The parents of a former Northwestern basketball recruit have filed a lawsuit against the university, contending that head coach Kevin O’Neill revoked a scholarship offer that their son had accepted in June 1998.

Andrew Coates, a former Seattle-area prep star, is now a freshman forward at the University of Pennsylvania, which does not offer athletic scholarships. His father said NU withdrew its scholarship offer — pitched by even University President Henry Bienen — after injuries hampered Coates’ performance at a summer camp.

The suit seeks unspecified amounts for Penn’s tuition cost — more than $30,000 a year — and damages, but Andrew’s father, Peter Coates, said he also hopes the court will force NU to change its behavior.

“We feel very strongly that adults in positions of authority should not treat young kids this way,” he said. “We would like the court to determine that people like O’Neill have to obey the law.”

Injured in his first game at Penn this year, Andrew Coates underwent surgery and sat out a season in which the Quakers won the Ivy League title and played in the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, NU finished the year without a conference win.

A copy of the lawsuit obtained by The Daily shows that O’Neill and other NU coaches pushed Coates to visit and ultimately commit to NU. E-mails between the Coates family and NU officials — submitted as exhibits in the suit — also reveal that Coates’ oral commitment was met with excitement and a written confirmation that the 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward had been “welcomed into the basketball family.”

According to the suit, O’Neill said he expected Andrew Coates to play 20 to 25 minutes a game as a freshman.

All NU athletic officials, including O’Neill, declined to comment, referring all inquiries to NU’s general counsel, Michael Weston, who also declined to comment.

Receiving Mail

Coates first received mail from NU in winter 1997, when he averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds a game as a junior at Eastside Catholic High School. At season’s end he was named to the All-Seattle Metro league team.

Peter Coates said lawyers have directed his son not to comment on his dealings with NU.

The mail escalated to as many as six pieces a day, Peter Coates said, and in April 1998, O’Neill asked for a game tape of Andrew.

Upon receiving two tapes, the NU basketball office sent a series of e-mails saying they were excited about Andrew’s play, Coates said.

“Everyone on the coaching staff has already watched the tape. All of us were very impressed with your overall play,” wrote NU assistant coach Billy Schmidt in an e-mail to Andrew Coates on April 30, 1998, cited in the suit. “You are an extremely versatile offensive player. I know that Coach O’Neill would do a great job utilizing ALL of your abilities and helping you reach your potential.”

The NU coaching staff continued to e-mail the Coates family throughout the summer. NCAA regulations forbid personal contact until the recruiting period officially begins in the fall.

After viewing the tapes in mid-May, O’Neill sent Andrew Coates an e-mail offering a full scholarship, according to the suit.

“I want to make sure you realize how impressed I was with your performance,” O’Neill wrote May 11 in an e-mail cited in the suit. “We are offering you a full scholarship to attend NU — we will make sure that one is available to you! We want to make you a Wildcat.”

Surprised that O’Neill would make an offer on the basis of only two taped games, Peter Coates said he asked the coach how he came to the decision.

“He said he could tell from one game whether a kid could play,” Peter Coates said. “He said Andrew could be terrific at Northwestern as a (small forward). He said Andrew was their No. 1 priority as a (small forward) and it was his scholarship to accept or reject.”

O’Neill’s staff then sent a series of e-mails encouraging Andrew and his father to visit the campus and meet the players and coaches, Peter Coates said.

“By making an early visit to campus, Andrew would be fully prepared to take advantage of the scholarship opportunity available to him,” O’Neill wrote May 13 in an e-mail cited in the suit. “If Andrew were to commit to Northwestern we would no longer recruit any players at his position.”

Visiting northwestern

Excited by the positive feedback from NU, Andrew and Peter Coates visited campus from June 25 to June 28, meeting with coaches and touring the campus. Andrew also played a pick-up game with the NU team. Peter Coates said they were greeted with a “dog-and-pony show” when they arrived at the basketball offices.

“The walls were covered with posters of (Andrew), there was a jersey with his name on it and signs that said, ‘Coates leads Cats to Big Ten championship,'” Peter Coates said.

But two key meetings persuaded Andrew to take the scholarship offer — one with Bienen, the other with O’Neill.

In what Bienen said was a rare foray into recruiting, the president met with Andrew and Peter Coates for an hour. Peter Coates said the meeting assured him that NU met the strong academic standards he was seeking for Andrew, who posted a 3.8 GPA in high school and scored 1300 on his SAT.

The following day Andrew Coates told O’Neill that he had not been impressed with the team’s play. According to Peter Coates, O’Neill responded: “‘If you didn’t think they were good, you must be one hell of a player. Our players were very impressed with you.'”

After Peter and Andrew Coates returned home, NU coaches continued to send e-mails, thanking the Coateses for visiting and pushing Andrew to commit before the national summer tournaments, Peter Coates said.

“I also think it goes without saying that no other coaching staff believes in you more and will work harder for you than we will. WE ARE COMMITTED TO YOU!” read one e-mail cited in the suit.

On June 29, 1998, Andrew Coates called O’Neill and the coaching staff to tell them he was accepting the full scholarship. The NU basketball staff confirmed Andrew’s acceptance in writing.

“Congratulations on your decision to attend Northwestern and welcome to our basketball family,” read the e-mail, according to the suit. “Our entire staff is extremely happy of your decision as we believe the opportunities for you at Northwestern are second to none. … Keep working hard and again welcome to our TEAM!!!”

Following his discussions with O’Neill, Andrew Coates informed other interested schools that he had accepted NU’s offer.

The weekend after Coates committed, O’Neill traveled to see Coates play in person for the first time at the Nike All-American summer camp in Indianapolis in early July. Stricken with intestinal problems and slowed by a hyper-extended knee that ended his junior season, Andrew didn’t “push himself as far as he might have,” his father said.

“It didn’t matter — it was all over,” Peter Coates said of the recruiting process. “He didn’t want to risk injury.”

A SHOCKING DECISION

In a move that left Peter Coates speechless, O’Neill called him on July 14 and took back his commitment, “trashing Andrew for what he saw at the Nike camp,” Peter Coates said.

“Andrew cannot help our program,” O’Neill told Peter Coates, according to the suit. “We are no longer interested in Andrew. I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

Peter Coates said O’Neill was “cold and getting it over with,” and that O’Neill had told him, “‘I’ve never made a mistake like this before.'”

Shocked by O’Neill’s decision, Peter Coates wrote to Bienen explaining his son’s predicament. Peter Coates said Bienen replied after conferring with O’Neill, and wrote that Andrew’s offer still stood. Further confused, Peter Coates wrote a second letter to Bienen clarifying the situation and reasserting O’Neill’s termination of the commitment. Coates said he received no response.

On Monday, Bienen said he still believed the offer to be valid when Andrew Coates chose Penn last year.

“It is my understanding that Coates was offered a scholarship here, and he was still offered a scholarship here when he decided to go to Penn,” Bienen
said.

Without any further response from the university, Peter Coates said he approached the university about a settlement, but called the talks “unproductive.”

On March 21 this year, the Coates family filed the lawsuit in King County Superior Court, and it has since moved to federal court.

Peter Coates said he didn’t know when the case would come to trial, and that he is still upset with O’Neill for what he said was unethical behavior.

“When someone asks you for a commitment and you give it, you have to believe it’s real,” he said. “Why would you ever commit to a school on a false premise? It’s completely unacceptable behavior. I never expected this from a coach at a school like Northwestern. It’s a complete betrayal.”

The Daily’s Casey Newton and Ross Siler contributed to this report.