New Mexico State regents call closed meetings Tuesday. Men's basketball is expected to be topic.

Feb. 13—After several turbulent days during which the remainder of the men's basketball season was canceled, the coaching staff was placed on paid administrative leave and several players made an exodus from the program amid a hazing and sexual-assault scandal, the New Mexico State University Board of Regents will huddle behind closed doors on Tuesday.

The school's governing board has called two closed meetings.

An 8 a.m. meeting was called to discuss "the acquisition of real property," which may involve attorney-client privileged information. At 5 p.m., regents will meet for a discussion of "limited personnel matters concerning individual NMSU employees" and "personally identifiable information about individual NMSU students," according to meeting notices and agendas.

Both meetings are online only, and the public can't observe any portion of them, said Justin Bannister, a spokesman for the university. There are no action items on the agendas.

The regents on Feb. 10 held a closed meeting to discuss "allegations of NMSU policy violations which included a perception of imminent danger to NMSU students."

Notices for the meetings don't say if they are related to hazing allegations against the basketball players that led campus police to launch a criminal investigation.

News the school canceled the remainder of the season reverberated around the college basketball landscape over the weekend.

Just last year, NMSU won the Western Athletic Conference and an NCAA tournament game.

The program, under first-year coach Greg Heiar, was already under scrutiny since November when a player, Mike Peake, left the team's hotel with a gun the morning of the team's rivalry game with the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Peake shot and killed a UNM student in self-defense after he was attacked, according to police. Peake was shot in the leg.

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Both NMSU-UNM games scheduled for this season were canceled after that shooting.

Lobo coach Richard Pitino called the decision to cancel the rest of the season unprecedented.

"I don't remember any program shutting down in the middle of the season," Pitino said. "From what I've read, it's heartbreaking. As somebody with children who I want them to play in sports, you hear some of those things and you don't know what's true or not. I mean, I'm not judging anybody. Things happen all the time, unfortunately. But you just hate it for everybody involved."I've never seen anything like this. And, like I said, it breaks my heart. Hopefully, they get to the bottom of it."

Police report

A redacted NMSU Police Department investigative report lists possible crimes of false imprisonment, criminal sexual contact and harassment by members of the men's basketball program. The report says the behavior started in August and continued throughout the season, including during road trips.

The most recent occurrence was Feb. 6 in the locker room at the Pan American Center. The reporting player said three teammates took his clothes off, held him facedown and began "to slap his ass," according to the police report, which was obtained by the Journal. The report also said the player's scrotum was touched.

The school on Friday shut down the program indefinitely and put the coaches on administrative leave.

NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu announced on Sunday the rest of the season was canceled.

"This action is clearly needed, especially after receiving additional facts and reviewing investigation reports related to the hazing allegations involving student-athletes on the team," he said in a statement.

Leader contracts

Arvizu is in his final months as chancellor. His five-year contract expires June 30, and regents have instructed the university's administration to begin working on finding his replacement.

Heiar's contract, which pays him a base salary of $300,000 per year, is good through April 2027.

The contract says that if the university terminates his contract without cause the school has to pay him his base pay through the remainder of the contract, minus his future compensation from another employer.

The contract also spells out scenarios in which the university could terminate his contract for cause.

There are 15 such provisions. They include things like betting on intercollegiate or professional sports and using alcohol or drugs to a degree that impairs his ability to perform his duties. There is also a clause that Heiar could be fired for failing to report violations of university police or rules by people under his direction to university officials, or being involved in a scandal or other conduct that reflects unfavorably upon the university's reputation, according to a copy of his contract.

Heiar's contract also states that he and the chancellor can reach a "termination by mutual agreement."

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