Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner rejected allegations of sexual assault and harassment in strong terms Thursday night following his team’s game against Louisville.
“Unequivocally, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero truth to any of those disgusting, bogus allegations,” Pastner said. “It’s disgusting. And there’s zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero truth to that. I believe in principle, I believe in character, I live my life that way and I’ve done that from the very beginning.”
Earlier Thursday, Ron Bell and his girlfriend Jennifer Pendley filed a counterclaim lawsuit in Arizona that was a response to Pastner's January 12 lawsuit that alleged that Bell and Pendley attempted to extort and blackmail him first with claims of knowingly participating in NCAA violations and then charges of sexual assault. Pastner denied claims of sexual assault in the original complaint, as well.
“That’s why I had sued originally,” Pastner said. “I had all that stuff originally so that’s why I did that. … It is what it is, but I’ll tell you this: My entire life, I’ve lived on treating people the right way, and this whole thing, I absolutely got victimized. I’m an absolute victim in this whole deal. It’s unfortunate, and I’ll deal with it, and I’ve got to deal with it. All my wife and I do is try to be compassionate to two people, and that’s life. So you live and learn.”
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