Former Indiana Assistant Seltzer Named Interim Coach at Evansville

Bennie Seltzer, the former Indiana assistant who was just hired at Evansville in August, is the interim head coach after school put Walter McCarty on administrative leave.

Former Indiana assistant coach Bennie Seltzer has been named the interim head coach at Evansville after the school placed basketball coach Walter McCarty on administrative leave pending an investigation into alleged violations of the university's Title IX policy, according to a news release from the school issued Friday afternoon.

Seltzer was an assistant at Indiana for four years from 2008 to 2012, coming to Bloomington with Tom Crean. Seltzer was hired as the head coach at Samford in 2012 but only lasted two years at the Alabama school. He was an assistant at Washington State before being hired in August by Evansville.

The school said multiple reports have been made against McCarty for improper off-court behavior that violate its Title IX policy.

"The University has received reports of unwelcome conduct by Coach McCarty since his arrival in March 2018," UE President Chris Pietruszkiewicz wrote in an internal letter to staff. "We have counseled him about his behavior. In the last two weeks, the University received a troubling report about Coach McCarty’s interactions with a member of the campus community. We have placed Coach McCarty on leave while that incident is being investigated."

Pietruszkiewicz said the decision was not "made lightly or in haste" because McCarty is a popular figure in Evansville, where he grew up before playing collegiately at Kentucky. The school president said his success doesn't "in any way outweigh the need to uphold the standards that define our university.

"UE will not tolerate any behavior from any university employee or student that jeopardizes the safety and security of others," Pietruszkiewicz wrote.

https://twitter.com/bmiller14news/status/1210624967794155522

BREAKING: @UEAthletics_MBB Walter McCarty has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into alleged violations of the University’s Title IX policy.

Bennie Seltzer will serve as the interim Head Coach. @14News @14SportsTeam pic.twitter.com/KuFuG2A409

— Bethany Miller (@BethanyMillerTV) December 27, 2019

Evansville is 9-4 this season, and shocked the college basketball world in early November when it upset No. 1-ranked Kentucky at Rupp Arena.

McCarty had no comment on the suspension.

Seltzer was an assistant for Crean during his first four years in Bloomington, and played a big part in rebuilding the program after the Kelvin Sampson debacle.