Coach John Gallagher suing UHart Board of Regents member, alleging misleading information regarding move to Division III

University of Hartford men’s basketball coach John Gallagher, since leading the Hawks to the NCAA Tournament in 2021, has stayed on the job despite the school’s decision to move to Division III and its ongoing transition.

But Gallagher, in a lawsuit his attorneys have filed in Superior Court in Hartford, alleges he was misled by David Thompson, vice chair of UHart’s Board of Regents in a series of conversations in the spring of ‘21, and based on these conversations turned down lucrative coaching opportunities elsewhere.

Read the full text of the lawsuit below.

UHart’s plan is to play the upcoming season as an independent Division I program before moving to Division III. Gallagher is in the final year of a contract that calls for a series of bonuses for winning regular season or tournament titles or coach of the year awards in America East, which he cannot earn in 2022-23 now that UHart is no longer competing in that conference.

Gallagher, in his 13-page complaint, is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. The lawsuit, which does not name UHart as a defendant, is in the discovery phase. His attorneys, Madsen, Prestly and Parenteau, who represented Kevin Ollie in his successful, $11 million case against UConn, released a statement to media on Gallagher’s lawsuit:

“Coach Gallagher brought this action against David Thompson, Vice Chair of the University’s Board of Regents, after Mr. Thompson fraudulently assured him that the University would remain in Division I,” the statement read. “The University’s regrettable actions in moving to Division III, notwithstanding those assurances, has not only caused irreparable damage to Coach Gallagher’s career, it has also hurt the scholar-athletes who joined the program with the promise that they would be afforded all the opportunities and experience that go along with a Division I program. While Coach Gallagher sought to resolve these issues on an informal basis, those efforts were met with scorn and retaliatory actions by the University administration, who continue to dismantle the program he spent years building. Ultimately, Coach Gallagher felt that he had no other option but to file this action.”

Thompson’s attorney, Rachel V. Kushel at the Hartford firm of Robinson and Cole, has not responded to a request for comment.

In March 2021, Gallagher led the UHart program to the conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, a first for the program in 37 years since moving up to Division I. The Hawks lost to eventual national championship Baylor, but brought national attention to the program in the process.

During this period, Gallagher heard rumors of a plan to move to Division III and contacted Thompson on or about March 26, 2021, who assured him, according to the complaint, that the school would not be moving to D-III and Gallagher should not worry.

Gallagher, according to the complaint, was offered an assistant coaching position at Oklahoma under Porter Moser that would have paid $600,000 per year for three years, and there were several other head coaching jobs open that Gallagher did not pursue.

A month later, it was revealed that UHart had commissioned a study that recommended a move to Division III to remedy financial difficulties. Again, the suit alleges, Thompson told Gallagher the move would not happen and he should stay at UHart. On May 6, the Board of Regents voted to approve the move and the transition began.

Gallagher remained at UHart, as did most of his players, and the Hawks finished 12-20, losing in the America East Tournament. UHart’s application to move to Division III was approved by the NCAA, and the school has joined the Commonwealth Coast Conference.

UHart has been assembling a 25-game independent D-1 schedule for 2022-23, but has not been allowed to have summer practices. The school is compelled to begin operating under D-III rules, which do not allow summer practices, on Sept. 1. It could have had summer practices this month to prepare for this last season in Division I.

Gallagher, while he remains the head coach, alleges in his suit that his reputation will be damaged as a result of these actions, alleging fraud and negligent misrepresentation.

“Statements made by David Thompson to Coach Gallagher,” the complaint reads, “which provided assurances to Coach Gallagher that the University had not engaged in studies and had no plans to move athletic programs from Division I to Division Ill were knowingly false and designed to mislead and manipulate Coach Gallagher into remaining the head coach of the University’s men’s basketball team.”

Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com