Former University of Cincinnati men's basketball coach John Brannen on Tuesday provided clarification on UC Director of Athletics John Cunningham's claim that Brannen "made, attempted, arranged or otherwise made payment for special benefits for a student-athlete other than through approved channels."
Brannen's attorney, Tom Mars, said in a statement that Brannen, who was fired April 9 after only two seasons at Cincinnati, paid $135 so that an unnamed player could receive mental health care.
Mars refuted the claim by RedditCFB on Twitter that Brannen "bribed players not to raise compliance concerns."
"Coach Brannen paid $135 of his own money so one of his players could see a mental health professional during the pandemic," Mars said. "UC Athletics has no psychologist on staff, instead opting to outsource those services to a Kentucky clinical psychologist whose advertisements say that he sees patients about infertility, gender identity, amnesia, and infidelity.
"Coach Brannen was never accused of bribing anyone. He was simply trying to help his player by getting him to a psychologist he thought would be better qualified to counsel the player than the one who was under contract with UC Athletics. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished.
"That's the factual basis of the 'payment for special benefits' that John Cunningham mentioned in the termination letter as a reason to fire Coach Brannen. This example illustrates the kind of 'evidence' that UC relied on and how its mishandling of this matter has harmed Coach Brannen's reputation by unfairly portraying him in a false, negative light."
Cunningham declined to comment on Mars' statement.
The decision to terminate Brannen came two weeks after Cunningham announced the university was reviewing unspecified allegations related to Brannen and the men's basketball program after six of Brannen's players entered the transfer portal.
More:Details: Former UC Bearcats basketball coach Brannen was reprimanded months before firing
In Cunningham's April 9 termination letter to Brannen, which was obtained Monday by The Enquirer, Cunningham accused Brannen, among other transgressions, of using methods of intimidation against players and jeopardizing or disregarding the well-being, health and safety of his players.
Brannen's firing was preceded by a written reprimand months earlier. The written reprimand, which was in response to an Oct. 6, 2020, practice that Cunningham deemed "overly strenuous," and termination letter were included in a group of documents obtained by The Enquirer under Ohio's Open Records Act.
The Bearcats went 32-21 in Brannen's two seasons. Cincinnati finished 12-11 last season and failed to advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010.
Cunningham hired former UNC Greensboro coach Wes Miller as the 28th head coach in program history on April 15.
