Controversial radio host and college basketball analyst Dan Dakich is in hot water again for comments he made relating to Duke freshman Jalen Johnson’s decision to leave the team.
ESPN is looking into Dakich’s interaction with three college professors for what he wrote on Twitter and said on his radio show. On Sunday, Dakich deactivated his Twitter account, though he quickly brought it back.
“We are taking this matter very seriously and are in the process of looking into it,” ESPN spokesperson Anna Negron said.
It all started when Duke lecturing fellow Nathan Kalman-Lamb condemned a group of media members for criticizing Johnson’s decision to leave with three weeks left in Duke’s regular season. Dakich engaged with Kalman-Lamb and Dr. Johanna Mellis, who is an assistant professor in the history department at Ursinus College who hosts a podcast on sports and labor issues.
The next day on his radio show, Dakich was critical of Kalman-Lamb’s appearance and repeatedly referenced his office hours at Duke. Some took that as him inciting his supporters to take action.
Dakich has been in trouble for m▨aking questionable comments before. WFNI The Fan suspended him for five days in 2019 for failing to “adhere to journalistic principles.” The exact reason for the suspension was never given.
He was investigated last March following a rant about a high school basketball coach’s firing. Dakich said one player was a “methhead” and he “may just drive down there and beat the hell out of every school board member.” He also said the town of Scottsburg, Indiana is full of “meth and AIDS and needles.”