NCAA interviews 2 ex-BU athletic department employees

The NCAA has interviewed two major figures in the sexual assault scandal that led to the firing of Baylor head football coach Art Briles and the eventual resignations of Chancellor and President Ken Star and athletic director Ian McCaw, sources confirmed Monday.

Former Baylor head volleyball coach Jim Barnes met with two NCAA investigators in October in New Orleans, where he is now the head volleyball coach at Tulane after leaving Baylor in 2014.

A volleyball player Barnes coached claimed she was gang-raped by multiple football players in 2012, but did not report it to her coach until 2013.

The interview, sources say, was focused on the case specifically and the football program generally.

Barnes was not available for comment.

Barnes would have been the first person to give a deposition in Briles’ slander lawsuit against university officials, but Briles dropped the suit the day before Barnes would have been deposed.

KWTX obtained documents showing the attorneys for the regents named in the lawsuit had filed paperwork in Llano fighting the deposition.

Former Baylor assistant athletic director Tom Hill has also met with the NCAA, sources told KWTX.

Hill was Barnes’ supervisor, and was fired in the wake of the Pepper Hamilton investigation.

Hill’s NCAA interview took place in January in Dallas and while Hill helped oversee volleyball, his interview also focused on the football program.

Hill was never given a reason for the termination, and later settled with Baylor.

In an affidavit obtained by KWTX, Barnes said he informed Hill of the potential incident involving the volleyball player, but did not provide details and did not expect him to act on the information because Barnes had already informed McCaw.

Hill was unable to comment when contacted.

Briles, McCaw, Starr, and fired director of football operations Colin Shillinglaw have not yet spoken with NCAA investigators.

Shillinglaw is suing Baylor officials for libel and slander, and it was his lawsuit that brought to light the potentially damming text messages sent by Briles.

The NCAA did not respond to requests for comment Monday.