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Shadow Mountain teacher says Mike Bibby groped her, asked her not to tell: court docs

Phoenix police opened an investigation on Feb. 14 into the accusations of sexual abuse against former NBA player and Shadow Mountain HS basketball coach Mike Bibby, the school district said.

PHOENIX — Former NBA player, Arizona sports icon and Shadow Mountain High School boy's basketball coach Mike Bibby is under investigation for alleged sexual abuse and harassment, the Paradise Valley Unified School District confirmed Tuesday.

According to the district, Phoenix police opened an investigation on Feb. 14 into the accusations of sexual abuse against Bibby at which time the district suspended its internal investigation.

An injunction against harassment reveals a Shadow Mountain teacher says Bibby groped and rubbed his genitals on her in a 2017 incident. She says he motioned her over to his car, jumped out of the driver's seat, picked her up and laid her down on the seat.

The woman told police she smelled alcohol on his breath as he said sexually explicit things to her. She was eventually able to get away from Bibby and ran inside a school building. According to court documents, there were witnesses to the situation and the woman told other people what happened.

The woman had documented several times she felt stalked by Bibby through uninvited visits to her classroom for more than a year after the assault, all of which are included in the court documents. 

In October of 2018, the woman says Bibby came to her classroom and admitted that he was drinking all day on the day of the 2017 incident and that he thought she was a "beautiful and nice person" and that he was interested in dating her, according to court documents.

The October 2018 encounter ended with Bibby asking the woman to tell Shadow Mountain Atheltic Director Mike Warren that she wouldn't speak out about what happened in 2017. The court documents say Warren was sitting in Bibby's car and he "gave a fist pump" when she told him she wouldn't say anything. 

Phoenix police opened an investigation earlier this month after the woman confided in another school staff member about the incident, and that staff member then reported it to the school's student resource officer. The woman filed a formal police report shortly after.

A spokesperson with the school district said Tuesday that Bibby is no longer eligible to coach.

"PVSchools notified Mr. Bibby that his volunteer status had changed from eligible to ineligible, pending the outcomes of the Phoenix PD and internal investigations," spokesperson Becky Kelbaugh said an email to 12 News.

The district did not release details about its internal review.

"Our first priority is always the safety and well-being of our staff and students," the district said in a statement. "We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and work in cooperation with law enforcement on all police matters."

While the district named Bibby in its statement, the Phoenix Police Department said the investigation is ongoing and no suspect has been named.

Bibby played for over a decade in the NBA and at the University of Arizona and Shadow Mountain High School before that.

He led U of A to a national championship in 1997. His jersey was retired at the university.

Bibby has been a varsity boy's basketball coach at Shadow Mountain for several years, most recently coaching the team to another state championship Saturday.

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