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The contract of University of Montana women’s soccer coach Mark Plakorus won’t be renewed after he used a university cellphone to text escort services during at least five recruiting trips to Las Vegas, the Missoulian reported.
An investigation in Plakorus's conduct, run by Athletic Director Kent Haslam and Senior Associate Athletic Director Jean Gee, began after more than a dozen players complained that the coach's behavior, including texting them excessively and at inappropriate times, made them uncomfortable. “At the end of the season we had players express concern about [the] frequency and time of day that they received messages from Coach Plakorus,” Haslam told the Missoulian. “As we looked more into this, me and Jean [Gee], the concerns merited digging a little deeper in order to understand the climate around the team.”
Two team players, who spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity, said Plakorus acted inappropriately with team members and other young women. The players said Plakorus would frequently touch young women’s legs and play with their hair, and that he matched on Tinder with women their age. But another former player said in her four years under Plakorus, she’d never heard any complaints about the coach.
“I don't think the girls that went in understand what they're doing to him. They're literally ruining his career, ruining his life,” the former player told the newspaper.
In a Thursday interview with the newspaper, Plakorus said he was “devastated” by reports that contained “confidential information.” The coach repeatedly denied using an escort service, saying he only responded to "personal ads." To Plakorus, his only mistake was using a university-issued cellphone for personal matters.
