KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Rick Barnes says Tennessee coaches says head coaches at the university do not ''want the stereotype out there that there's something there that isn't true.''
Barnes, the men's basketball coach, and the 15 other Tennessee head coaches representing each of the school's sports programs held a rare joint press conference Tuesday morning, without any help or participation from the university administration. The coaches feel and unfair picture of the athletic department is being portrayed.
They spoke two weeks after a group of unidentified women sued the school over its handling of sexual assault complaints made against student-athletes.
The federal lawsuit filed Feb. 9 in Nashville alleges that the school has violated Title IX regulations and created a ''hostile sexual environment'' through a policy of indifference toward assaults by student-athletes.
