WATCH: Players, attorneys address NMSU hazing lawsuit

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Two former NMSU men’s basketball players and their attorneys addressed a lawsuit Wednesday, alleging hazing within the team. (Watch here)

In February, NMSU suspended the men’s basketball season after one of the men’s basketball players accused three teammates of touching him inappropriately.

Three days after NMSU suspended the season, the Board of Regents fired coach Greg Heiar.

In April, two players and their attorneys filed a lawsuit against Heiar and the NMSU Board of Regents. The players allege administrators didn’t take action after they reported the sexual assaults.

The lawsuit is also against NMSU players DeShawndre Washington, Doctor Bradley and Kim Aiken Jr. and associate head coach Dominique Taylor.

These allegations are separate from a fatal UNM shooting involving NMSU star player Mike Peake in November.

ENMU’s Board of Regents also faces a similar hazing lawsuit, filed on behalf of three former women’s basketball players. The players allege the head coach’s husband sexually assaulted them but that the head coach and ENMU administrators, including the athletics director, didn’t do enough to intervene when they reported the assaults.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Friday she plans to pursue anti-hazing legislation in the next session, saying “I — along with my administration — have ZERO tolerance for abuse of any kind, and I will root out cultures of hazing and abuse at every higher education institution in New Mexico.”

The governor also said New Mexico is just one of six states that don’t have an anti-hazing law in place. Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska and Hawaii are the others.

In the wake of the allegations at NMSU, two players said they intended to leave the team because of the allegations.

The university also named Jason Hooten as Heiar’s replacement in March.