Leslie Turk

UL closes chapter on resume-lying coach

by Leslie Turk

Former UL basketball coach Glynn Cyprien's lawsuit claiming defamation and breach of contract against the university is history. In a unanimous decision, the Louisiana Supreme Court dismissed the suit.

Cyprien, who had faxed a copy of his resume to the university when applying for the head coach position in April 2004, listed that he had obtained a bachelor of science degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
          
The university later learned from a Times-Picayune story Cyprien had attended the University of Texas at San Antonio, but had never received a degree. His degrees were from an online school. Cyprien was immediately terminated for submitting false credentials, and later filed suit against the university. UL officials say the Supreme Court determined that Cyprien clearly knew that academic qualifications were an important factor in the university’s decision to hire him.
              
“While there was never a doubt that the university and its athletics department were recipients of false information, it’s still good to put this behind us,” said Nelson Schexnayder, UL's former director of athletics.

The AP reported today:

Cyprien, now an assistant at Kentucky, spent the 2006-07 season at Arkansas State. In a statement released after Kentucky's 73-64 win over Auburn on Wednesday, Cyprien said he is focused on his job at Kentucky and "my attorneys will continue their efforts to resolve this case."

He testified in a sworn statement that he had failed a foreign language requirement, leaving him one class short of graduating from UTSA, and got online bachelor's and master's degrees from Lacrosse University, according to the ruling.

Lacrosse, based in Bay St. Louis, Miss., is not recognized by major accreditation agencies. It moved from Louisiana to Mississippi in 2002, after the Louisiana Board of Regents voted not to renew its license.

Cyprien said he was defamed because he gave the correct information in another form, and hand-delivered a correct resume before a student worker at Oklahoma State, where he worked prior to Louisiana-Lafayette, mistakenly faxed the inaccurate one.

"ULL pointed out that Mr. Cyprien consistently submitted resumes containing the same misrepresentations to various universities over the past fourteen years," the Supreme Court noted in an unsigned opinion.

Read the rest of the AP story here.