In March of 2022, Giarratano was fired from USF due to a class-action lawsuit that three former players targeted towards him which stated that Giarratano had inappropriate sexual conduct allegations.[5]
Giarratano moved to San Francisco to become head coach in 1999. In his time with the Dons, he has led teams to three NCAA Regionals, their only appearances in the Tournament in program history. The Dons have also claimed a pair of West Coast Conference championships and earned Giarratano WCC Coach of the Year honors three times. Giarratano is the program's all-time leader in wins.[1]
Sexual conduct scandal
On March 11, 2022, ESPN released an article titled Ex-San Francisco Dons baseball players sue Nino Giarratano, Troy Nakamura and others over alleged behavior alleging that head coach Giarratano and former assistant, Troy Nakamura oversaw an environment that "included persistent psychological abuse and repeated inappropriate sexual conduct."
Three former USF players, filed a class-action lawsuit against Giarratano and Troy Nakamura. Going by the alias "John Doe", the former players described varying forms of abuse. They described a culture in which "it was 'normal' to see [Nakamura] naked on the field or in a window, swinging his penis in a helicopter fashion while the entire team -- and [Giarratano] -- watched."[8] "John Doe 1" alleged that Giarratano referred to him using several expletives and repeatedly berated him in an attempt to pressure him to leave the program (he had a significant four-year guaranteed scholarship). He entered the transfer portal in January. "John Doe 2" outlined a pattern of verbal and emotional abuse that resulted in five emergency room visits in the fall of 2021, contributing to his decision to leave the program. "John Doe 3" said Giarratano told him he was a waste of space, that none of his teammates or coaches liked him, and said, "I wish I could take my bat and hit your head as hard as I can, and maybe I can get your brain to work," according to the lawsuit. Another former USF baseball player, Tyler Imbach described having suicidal thoughts in a public Instagram post in September of 2021 and told the San Francisco Chronicle this week: "The USF thing definitely compounded my mental health issues. USF was a rough experience, just the way I was treated by the coaching staff. It kind of sent me over the edge."[9]
On March 13, 2022, Giarratano was fired immediately from USF.[10] University of San Francisco Athletic Director, Joan McDermott stated, "When the university first became aware of the complaints by students and families about the environment and behavior of coaches in the baseball program, we immediately conducted an internal investigation that led to the firing of Troy Nakamura and an official reprimand of Nino Giarratano."[11]
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
References
^ abc"Nino Giarratano". University of San Francisco. 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2022.