Tuskegee basketball coach files $1M suit against Morehouse College after he was handcuffed on court

Tuskegee men’s basketball coach Benjy Taylor filed a federal civil lawsuit Friday seeking more than $1 million in damages from rival Morehouse College and two campus cops who detained him after a disturbance during the post-game handshake.

Taylor, who was not charged with a crime, said in the lawsuit he was handcuffed by the Morehouse campus officers and marched off the court of Forbes Arena on Jan. 31 “as if he were the most wanted individual in America.”

As a result, Taylor “has endured physical damages, emotional distress, and financial losses,” states the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.

It names as defendants Morehouse College and the two officers, identified in the court papers as R. Clark and M. Roberson.

Taylor, 58, said at a press conference announcing the lawsuit that he feared he won’t be remembered for the years he devoted the coaching college basketball.

“That’s my life’s work,” he said. “I won’t be remembered for that. I’ll be remembered for this. From a mentally, emotional, physical standpoint, this has been one of the roughest things I’ve ever had to go through. I lost 11 pounds. I can’t sleep more than two or three hours without assistance.”

NBC News has reached out to Morehouse and the two officers for a response.

Last month, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference fined Morehouse an undisclosed amount, saying it failed to meet mandated conference safety standards.

Both Morehouse, which is located in Atlanta, and Tuskegee, which is in Alabama, are both renowned HBCU’s, or Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The disputed incident happened after Morehouse won the game 77-69 and players from both teams were lining up to shake hands before heading to their respective locker rooms.

Taylor, according to the lawsuit, said members of the Morehouse football team had been taunting the Tuskegee players during the game “and using profanity towards the coaches and staff.”

Concerned for the safety of his players, the lawsuit says, Taylor asked that the Morehouse football players be removed from the area around the baseline.

“Rather than restraining the behavior of the football players, Defendant R. Clark chose to laugh and and turn his back at the remarks and insults directed at the Tuskegee bench,” the lawsuit states.

When the game was over, Taylor said he asked Clark to remove the football players who had run onto the court during the postgame handshake line.

Instead, Taylor said in the lawsuit, Clark “proceeded to handcuff Coach Taylor in presence of thousands of spectators, including members of Coach Taylor’s family.”

After the incident, Tuskegee president Mark Brown and athletic director Reginald Ruffin released a statement in support of their coach.

“Taylor acted solely out of his fundamental responsibility to protect his student-athletes and staff — particularly in an environment where agreed-upon and customary game‑management and security protocols were not properly carried out,” it said, in part.

One of Taylor’s lawyers, Harry Daniels, told The Associated Press on Friday that the coach has suffered “reputational harm.”

“This is going to be the stigma surrounding him the rest of his career like a scarlet letter,” Daniels said.