UNH Employee Fired for Videotaping Athletes in Locker Room

The University of New Hampshire revealed Wednesday that its former director of men's basketball operations was fired after he allegedly took photos and video of members of the team in the locker room on Jan. 20.

Scott Weitzell, 50, of Newmarket is charged with resisting arrest, resisting detention and attempting to falsify evidence, UNH Police Chief Paul Dean said. Weitzell was fired from his part-time job with the university on Feb. 25. 

Dean said the UNH Police Department received information on Feb. 20 about Weitzell allegedly photographing and/or videotaping members of the UNH men's basketball team inside their locker room. The conduct was allegedly committed at the University of Vermont, where the basketball team played a game on Jan. 20. He said the incident was reported by "a UNH staff member" who heard about it from members of the men's basketball team.

He said UNH investigators immediately began coordinating with law enforcement in Vermont and the Strafford County Attorney, and obtained a search warrant to seize Weitzell's mobile phone which was believed to contain the images. He said Weitzell had the phone on him when police attempted to seize it and tried to destroy it.

UNH officials said none of the athletes photographed were minors, and it is unclear at this time how many images exist.

"We're still in the infancy of the investigation," Dean said, while promising to "leave no stone unturned."

Joel Seligman, UNH's chief communications officer, said the university is looking into why the alleged misconduct wasn't reported for a full month after it occurred. He said UNH President Mark Huddleston is "deeply troubled" by the amount of time between the Vermont game and the date when the incident was reported.

Seligman said senior administrators have met with the members of the men's basketball team and reached out to the parents of those players to inform them of the alleged misconduct.

According to a 2002 UNH press release announcing Weitzell's hiring, he coached high school and middle boy's basketball in Newmarket for 19 seasons, 10 at the middle school level and nine with the high school team. During Weitzell's tenure the Mules varsity team reached the playoffs in the six of nine seasons and he was named Class M Coach of the Year in 2001.

Dean said he has not contacted the Newmarket School Department concerning the allegations against Weitzell, and will leave that up to the Newmarket Police Department.

Weitzell was originally hired by UNH in 2002 as an administrative assistant for the men's basketball team, where his responsibilities included community relations, coordination of the men's basketball Cage Club, Alumni Affairs, the Big Brother Program, team budgeting and fundraising and organizing player and coaches' clinics. In his role as director of basketball operations, he organized a fundraising golf tournament and the celebration of 100 Years of UNH Basketball.

UNH initially announced Weitzell's dismissal in a statement issued Monday, but did not reveal his name at that time, saying only that a part-time member of the athletic staff had been fired due to "allegations of misconduct" involving student athletes.