Intra-Athletic Department e-mails exchanged weeks prior to former women’s basketball coach Pokey Chatman’s resignation show that Senior Associate Athletic Director Judy Southard was sent to road games to observe Chatman following inappropriate conduct allegations.
Chatman’s resignation came after assistant coach Carla Berry reported allegations of an inappropriate relationship between Chatman and a player not currently on the team. Later the University confirmed in a March 15 statement that an Athletic Department administrator traveled with the LSU women’s basketball team after the allegations were reported in mid-February.
Senior Associate Athletic Director Herb Vincent confirmed to The Daily Reveille late Thursday that Southard was sent to watch Chatman’s behavior.
Southard traveled with the LSU women’s basketball team to Nashville, Tenn., for a Feb. 22 game against Vanderbilt University.
Vincent e-mailed Southard at 11 a.m on Feb. 22 asking, “Everything OK?” in the subject line.
“Pretty much keeping my normal routine which is to say that I don’t hang around the team a lot,” Southard responded to Vincent at 11:03 a.m. “But they know I’m here, and I know Carla would call if anything went wrong … Evidently everything is quiet on the home front also.”
At 11:06 a.m. Vincent responded, “Everything is quiet here.”
Vincent told The Daily Reveille he was unaware if assistant coaches knew Southard’s purpose for traveling with the team. Vincent also said Southard was not asked to provide a report of observations and said he was unaware if any report exists.
Travel records obtained by The Daily Reveille show the handwritten name “Julia Southard” added at the end of the typed travel list for the Vanderbilt trip. Southard was also listed as a return-only passenger on the passenger list for the Southeastern Conference Tournament that took place March 1-4 .
Additional travel records show that Southard did not travel with the team to any of the SEC road trips on Jan. 11, Jan. 14, Jan. 21, Feb. 1, Feb. 4 or Feb. 15.
Southard first indicated through e-mail Feb. 19 that she was planning to travel with the team to the Feb. 22 game.
Southard sent an e-mail asking Director of Basketball Operations Joe Carvalhido if she was “good to go” and if she would have an individual room.
Assistant Coach Bob Starkey sent an e-mail to Southard on Feb. 25, less than a week after the Vanderbilt trip, alluding to the past “[traumatic] four days.” Starkey asked to meet with Southard for a talk.
“I assume you know what it’s about,” Starkey wrote to Southard.
Starkey e-mailed Southard again Feb. 26 and said he “just didn’t know who else to talk [to]” but did not have anything “earth-shattering to add.”
Southard answered a call to her cell phone from The Daily Reveille on Thursday but said she did not have time to talk. Starkey and Berry did not return phone calls to their offices Thursday.
—–Contact Amy Brittain at [email protected]