Florida men’s basketball assistant coach Taurean Green has been accused of sexual assault, according to a report from ESPN. A University of Florida athletics department employee filed a sexual assault complaint against him Tuesday, detailing an abusive encounter in March 2024. 

The woman reported to the University of Florida Title IX office that Green tried to put his hand in her pants and kissed her during a meeting he scheduled with her at a UF athletics facility, according to a copy of her complaint obtained by ESPN. 

As stated in the complaint, the woman pushed Green away and he made another attempt to reach into her pants before she got away. Prior to the alleged incident last March, the pair hadn’t been alone together and had only exchanged brief greetings, the woman told ESPN.

“The law prohibits us from commenting on the existence or status of investigations. The University of Florida takes these matters seriously and conducts a thorough and deliberate process that ensures due process for everyone,” UF spokesperson Steve Orlando said about the accusations against Green in a statement to The Alligator. 

The woman decided to come forward with her accusations after UF investigators working on a Title IX case against Florida head coach Todd Golden requested to interview her in Fall 2024 about Golden’s actions. She didn’t come forward with her accusations in the Spring due to concerns over Green’s status as a former Florida basketball and NBA player.

The former UF employee first reported Green’s assault in December to Florida deputy athletics director Amy Meyers Hass, she said to ESPN. Hass was unwilling to comment about what action was taken when questioned about the accusations, according to ESPN.

The accusations against Green come amid the active Title IX investigation into Golden. In a Sept. 27 complaint, the UF head coach was accused of sexual exploitation, sexual harassment and stalking, according to obtained Title IX documents. 

Golden is accused of making unwanted sexual advances on Instagram, requesting sexual favors, sending unwanted images of his genitalia and taking photos of women walking that he would then send to them. 

One of the complaints in the Title IX case against Golden came from a student in a partnership program with the University of Florida, according to the student’s attorney, Karen Truszkowski.

Green’s accuser told ESPN that the investigation into Golden made her realize his assault could be part of a pattern of harassment and willful blindness in the UF men’s basketball program.

There could be a cultural problem within the UF basketball program that sponsored Green’s accused actions, Truszkowski said.

“As with many other universities, there is a culture in the athletic department, a tendency to look the other way and protect people in the athletic department,” she told The Alligator. “Is that the case at UF? I can’t say that definitively. There’s enough there that warrants a look.”

Golden’s accusers, including the woman Truszkowski represents, have provided statements to Title IX investigators and have continued to work with them, according to Truszkowski.

The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division defines Title IX as protecting “students from sexual harassment in educational programs or activities operated by recipients of federal funding.” Florida’s Title IX coordinator, Jackie Moran, wouldn’t explain how the law applies to complaints by non-students, according to ESPN.

“I am hopeful that [the accusations] will bring what appears to be a very difficult situation in the athletic department to the forefront,” Truszkowski said. “And that people will start paying attention to what’s going on.”

Contact Noah White at nwhite@alligator.org. Follow him on X @noahwhite1782.

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