ATLANTA — Tuskegee head coach Benjy Taylor said what happened after a game with HBCU rival Morehouse has followed him every day since Jan. 31. He used Friday’s announcement of a federal lawsuit to “speak truth to this incident” in his own words.
“I haven’t had an opportunity to speak truth to this incident,” Taylor said. “Myself.”
He said he did not expect to be forced to relive it publicly during the SIAC Tournament. “I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t know what was showing videos, having to go through that again.”
The lawsuit — announced with his attorneys — names Morehouse and campus police officers R. Clark and M. Roberson. It stems from the scene that went viral when Taylor was handcuffed and escorted off the court after the Tuskegee-Morehouse matchup. Taylor said the image clashes with how he has lived.
“I’ve not lived my life to be put in handcuffs,” Taylor said. “The confusion, the anger, the pain, all the things that go with that have been with me every day.”
Benjy Taylor talks about his life’s work
In emotional comments, Taylor described the personal toll and his fear that the moment will define him more than his career. He noted he was one of four men to be a head coach at Division I, II and III. “It’s my life’s work,” he said. “I won’t be remembered for that. I didn’t remember for this.”
Taylor said it has impacted him “mental, emotional, physical” in ways he never anticipated. “It’s been … the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through,” he said. “Loss of 11 pounds. I can’t sleep one, 2 or 3 hours without assistance.”
He said he has largely kept the details private. “I have not talked about this with anybody other than my immediate family and my team,” Taylor said. Then he added a line that drew a reaction in the room: “I’m grateful the opportunity to speak today because my therapist would be glad because he might not get a phone call today.”
Taylor also linked the incident to how he believes Black coaches are viewed and remembered. “It’s only been four coaches in the history of basketball,” he said, referencing a career path he described across divisions. “I’m the only black.”
Tuskegee tried to put the incident behind it
Taylor returned repeatedly to the night of the incident and the weeks that followed, saying he still had to coach through the end of the season while carrying the weight of what happened at Morehouse.
“Even those instances have brought me back to January 31st at Forbes Arena,” Taylor said. “That first initial thing that happened at Morehouse was devastating for me.”
“You still had a month left in our season,” he said. “And you try to put a mask on and get through it, which makes what you’re going through personally … harder.”
He credited his players for not turning it into something that tore the team apart. “I could have only done that with the professionalism and my team listening to me to not make this a vendetta or a personal issue,” Taylor said.
“I Couldn’t Believe It
Taylor also described learning — in real time — that the clip had been aired during the SIAC Tournament and shown in-arena. It’s a moment he said blindsided him because he did not know until afterward.
He said Tuskegee AD Reginald Ruffin came up to him at halftime. “He comes up to me and says, coach, focus, you got this.” Taylor recalled his response: “Coach, we’ve been here before. We’re going to walk these guys down.” Taylor said that person later told him “he knew I didn’t know.”
After the game, Taylor said his wife was waiting as they headed to the locker room. “She’s visibly upset,” he said. “I can tell she’s been crying.”
Taylor said she tried to shield him from the media and the moment. “She said you’re not doing any interviews,” he recalled. Taylor said he asked what was wrong. “She told me what happened,” he said. “I couldn’t — it couldn’t. It didn’t register with me. And then she showed me the video.”
He described what he saw next — of ESPN playing the video on the jumbotron. “What we just saw on the screen.” Taylor said regarding an HBCU Gameday clip of the moment at the SIAC title game. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
Taylor also said the decision stood out because it had not been common during the event. “They hadn’t showed any videos,” he said. “All weekend has always been a blank screen. They decided to show that.”
For Taylor, the lawsuit is the next step. For Morehouse, it is a new chapter in a story the schools have been trying to move past. And for a coach who says he is still carrying the “confusion, the anger, the pain,” Taylor said this was the moment he needed to speak directly — and be heard.