COLUMBIA, MO. • Missouri athletics director Jim Sterk got hit with a double dose of bad news Thursday. First, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley filed a $75,000 defamation lawsuit against the AD over comments he made in a radio interview about the Tigers’ game at South Carolina earlier this season. The Southeastern Conference then announced that the league has reprimanded and fined Sterk $25,000 for violating its code of ethics by publicly criticizing another institution.
The conflict stems from South Carolina’s 64-54 victory over the Missouri women’s team on Jan. 28 in Columbia, S.