Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon and two staff members have been sued by a former player who alleges they were negligent and did not follow school or NCAA guidelines after he suffered an injury in 2019.
Left-handed pitcher Johnny Blake Bennett and his father, Jon, are suing Bohannon, pitching coach Jason Jackson and athletic trainer Sean Stryker, according to court documents filed in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court on March 10.
According to the complaint, Bennett unknowingly broke a rib during strength training on campus in 2019. When he started throwing 60 feet on flat ground a few weeks later, he began to feel numbness and couldn’t control his throws. He was ultimately diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome (TOC), a disorder that occurs when certain blood vessels or nerves are compressed.
The civil suit alleges the three coaches mismanaged Bennett’s recovery, including identifying his issues as “the yips” — a shorthand term for when an experienced athlete has a mental blockage that stops them from executing routine skills.
The coaches also allegedly ignored follow-up concerns from Bennett and advised him not to tell his parents about his injury, according to the complaint.
The suit also alleges that on May 12, 2022, Bennett was “unexpectedly” dismissed from the team without explanation.
The University of Alabama has not been named in the lawsuit.
School officials said there would be no comment on the case at this time.
“The University does not comment on pending litigation but looks forward to sharing the actual facts with the court,” read a statement released Friday by the school. “The mental and physical well-being of its student-athletes is of the utmost importance to the University. We have supreme confidence in our coaching staffs and provide our student-athletes with access to the best sports medicine personnel and sports psychology practitioners in the country.”
Bohannon echoed those sentiments when speaking to reporters after Alabama’s home loss to Auburn Friday night.
“Gosh, I really wish I could talk about the specifics of it, I really wish I could. But unfortunately, I can’t,” Bohannon said. “I really believe that we provide our student-athletes with access to the absolute best sports medicine and sports psychology resources in the country, and you know, this is the third SEC school that I’ve been at, and I would put our sports medicine personnel against any school in the country and even professional organizations. They’re just outstanding. We place a real premium on mental and physical well-being of our student-athletes, so that’s really all I have to say about it.”
A hearing on the defense’s motion to dismiss is set for June 20, according to a court document filed Thursday.
A Georgia native, Bohannon was named Alabama’s head coach in 2017 and has a 160-119 record, reaching the NCAA Regional in 2021.
Alabama is 24-11 overall this season but 4-9 in conference play, ranking fifth in the SEC West. The Crimson Tide next play Auburn at home Saturday night.
–Field Level Media