Sam Ukwuachu: Baylor Footballer Sentenced To 180 Days In Jail For Raping Student

Sam Ukwuachu has been sentenced to 180 days behind bars and 10 years probation after being found guilty of rape.

Baylor football player Sam Ukwuachu convicted of sexual assault in Waco http://t.co/MTd16w3fxP pic.twitter.com/46Ny9RouxF

— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) August 21, 2015

According to SportAct, Sam Ukwuachu, a Baylor football player, was convicted of raping another Baylor University student. Although he faced up to 20 years behind bars, some feel as though he was given a rather lenient sentence.

However, that’s not all people are talking about. Some say that Ukwuachu’s former coaches were aware of his abusive tendencies but didn’t say anything to the staff at Baylor.

Of course, Ukwuachu’s former coaches claim they knew little about the athlete’s past.

“This story is about more than a football player and sexual assault. It’s about the systematic failure to thoroughly investigate the allegations and a culture of sexual assault that extends to universities around the country. Questions persist about Baylor’s response to the charges, as well as the football program’s decision to bring Ukwuachu to the school in the first place.”

Sam Ukwuachu was released from Boise State after some “depression and violence,” but his coaches reportedly never knew much about his issues — or, at least, the extent of those issues.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Ukwuachu “habitually abused” his girlfriend at Boise State, but this has become some kind of game of “who knew what.” Many are wondering why Ukwuachu’s past struggles weren’t brought up sooner — or why he was even allowed to attend Baylor given his domestic violence tendencies.

“I was told the staff was very concerned about Sam being depressed and violent towards himself and their worries were for him, never once did they ever tell me he had struck or hit a female or had a violent encounter with anyone. I spoke with Chris Petersen during Sam’s redshirt freshman year about his depression and insubordination, but I haven’t spoken with Coach Petersen since. The communication I heard after Sam’s release was with the Boise State assistant coaches,” said Pearland High School coach Tony Heath, who had Ukwuachu on his team a couple of years ago.

Heath was backing up a statement made by Baylor football coach Art Briles.

The people who knew that Sam Ukwuachu had a tendency to abuse women are still unclear. However, many feel that this information was known, and that it was Ukwuachu’s old coaches who should have come forward with said information in order to prevent something like this from happening.

Do you think anyone knew what was really going on with Ukwuachu? Do you think his former coaches should have spoken up?

[Photo by Otto Kitsinger III / Getty Images Sport]