New Development After Tuskegee University Coach Was Handcuffed, Escorted Out From Rival Morehouse Game

Atlanta—Nearly seven weeks after Tuskegee University head basketball coach Benjy Taylor was handcuffed and led from the gymnasium following a heated rivalry game at Morehouse College, the veteran coach is taking his fight to court. Taylor, flanked by a team of prominent civil-rights attorneys, will announce a federal lawsuit Friday against Morehouse and two campus officers, R. Clark and M. Roberson, alleging unlawful detention and civil-rights violations stemming from the Jan. 31 post-game confrontation that stunned players, fans, and the broader HBCU community.

The incident, captured in a viral social-media clip, occurred moments after Morehouse edged Tuskegee 77-69 in front of a raucous home crowd. According to Taylor and Tuskegee officials, the coach approached game security to report what he termed a “security breach”: members of the Morehouse football team had joined the traditional handshake line, a move Tuskegee Athletic Director Reginald Ruffin says contravenes standard Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference protocol.

Taylor says he asked officers to intervene when the football players “followed right behind me and the team yelling obscenities,” creating what he feared was a dangerous environment for his players and their families. Instead of de-escalating the situation, campus police handcuffed the 35-year coaching veteran and escorted him outside the arena, an image that ricocheted across sports media within hours.

No charges were filed, and Taylor traveled back to campus with his squad that night, but the fallout was immediate. Tuskegee President and CEO Mark A. Brown issued a statement praising Taylor’s conduct as “measured, professional, and entirely consistent with the expectations of a head coach entrusted with the safety of his team.”

Now Taylor is seeking accountability. Represented by Harry Daniels, John Burris, Gerald Griggs, and Gregory Reynald Williams—attorneys known for high-profile civil-rights litigation—Taylor’s suit will claim unlawful seizure and emotional distress. “To put him in handcuffs, humiliate him and treat him like a criminal in front of his team, his family and a gym full of fans is absolutely disgusting,” Daniels said.

Morehouse has not publicly commented on the impending litigation. Friday’s press conference, scheduled for 11 a.m. EST in downtown Atlanta, is expected to detail damages sought and broader allegations of inadequate game-management protocols that Taylor’s legal team argues placed both teams at risk.

The case adds a legal chapter to one of the most visible HBCU basketball rivalries and raises fresh questions about security procedures at collegiate sporting events—particularly when emotions run high and conference traditions collide.

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