The University of Charleston hired as its new men's volleyball coach a former ACC women's volleyball coach who resigned in April facing a second investigation into treatment of his players. UC's athletic director said Tuesday that, despite the investigation, she is confident that her new hire is a good addition to the athletic program.
Ken Murczek, who spent the last three seasons as Wake Forest's women's coach, recently was hired by the Golden Eagles as their new men's coach. Murczek resigned from Wake Forest in April after the university announced it would conduct a second investigation into allegations of player mistreatment. The allegations came from unnamed members of the volleyball team and members of their families. Following Murczek's resignation, the committee to investigate those allegations did not form.
Murczek was investigated in the fall of 2014, according to a Winston-Salem Journal report, after a complaint by an unnamed member of the volleyball team. WFU athletic director Ron Wellman announced after that investigation that Wake Forest did not find that Murczek violated the university's sexual harassment policy or Title IX regulations.
UC athletic director Bren Stevens said that, through her vetting process, she was confident Murczek was the right coach for the job. She talked to Wake Forest's senior associate athletic director, Barbara Walker, about the investigation. Stevens said Walker told her she met with each member of the volleyball team and felt none of the accusations were substantiated. Stevens also reached out to other areas of the volleyball coaching community.
"He was up-front from the very beginning, telling me what happened," Stevens said of Murczek. "And at the same time, I knew his mentor really well, the head of the American Volleyball Coaches Association, Kathy DeBoer. We've been friends for many years. She talked to me about the situation and had been working with Ken the entire time.
"I'm not going to bring a coach in who I feel will, in any way, be abusive to our athletes," added Stevens, who spent 19 years as UC's women's volleyball coach. "We would not stand for that. I believe he's a really good hire for us. His experience and the places he's coached will be helpful for us."
Murczek went 44-52 during his Wake Forest tenure, after winning 63 games and two Sun Belt West Division titles in three seasons with the University of North Texas.
Murczek replaced Michael Crane, who led the Golden Eagles men's volleyball team in its first two seasons of existence. Murczek could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Contact Derek Redd at 304-348-1712 or derek.redd@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @derekredd.