A former assistant for University of Nebraska women’s basketball has admitted to a sexual relationship with a player following accusations of misconduct. Love has been brought into the spotlight following a suit by former player Ashley Scoggin, who was dismissed from the team in 2022. In 2024, Scoggin filed a lawsuit against Love and university officials alleging that her civil rights were violated prior to her dismissal from the team. Love was suspended with pay without the details for his suspension being revealed. He later resigned. Scoggin alleges she was groomed by Love to have a sexual relationship with him and then kicked off the team after the two were discovered in a hotel room in 2022.

Love initially denied having any sort of sexual relationship with Scoggin. However, at a recent deposition, he admitted under oath that he’d had sexual contact with her. Scoggin accuses her team of conspiring against her to reveal the relationship prior to a game against Penn State. According to Scoggin, members of the team set up a “ruse” to prove that she was in Love’s hotel room by having a teammate ask to see Love and filming an encounter as other teammates, who had gotten a key to Love’s room, came into it and found Scoggin “by herself in Love’s hotel room, fully clothed.” Love initially explained away Scoggin’s presence in his room by claiming she was in there to discuss a personal problem.

Scoggin claims the sexual relationship began in September 2021 and states she feared retaliation if she did not participate. After being found out in the hotel room, Scoggin says she was subjected to a two-hour “inquiry” with Love, other members of the coaching staff, and her teammates present to explain why she was in the room. According to the complaint, Love lied as to the real reason of why she was in the room because “Love had told her not to disclose the relationship.” She also feared she would be “blamed as an equal participant in the relationship as if her power were equal to that of the associate head coach.”

Prior to the incident, Scoggin had played two full seasons with the team. The university has supported Scoggin’s dismissal, claiming that “dishonesty and distrust” between Scoggin’s and the team warranted her dismissal. Scoggin’s suit is seeking damages for mental suffering, as well as the loss of her place on the team and violations of her rights. She is also accusing university officials of failing to have proper safeguards in place to prevent such abuses of power. No date for the trial has been set.