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Ex-Cal State Bakersfield coach allegedly doubled as a pimp: report

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A former college basketball coach was on the sidelines by day and an alleged pimp by night.

Kevin Mays was an assistant coach at Cal State Bakersfield when university police began investigating in August after receiving an email tip from the team’s then-head coach Rod Barnes.

The email, “first warning and last warning,” identified a woman Mays had allegedly been trafficking for months.

Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners forward Kevin Mays during the game between Northern Arizona at Cal State Bakersfield at the Icardo Center in Bakersfield, California. (David Dennis/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

“FIX IT OR THE ENTIRE STAFF WILL FALL,” the tipster wrote in his email. The subject line read “IMPORTANT MESSAGE 911 911.”

Barnes then reported the incident to human resources, who referred it to university police.

The tipster said Mays operated out of Las Vegas, Oregon, Washington and California. ESPN reported The tipster knew both the alleged victim and Barnes through traveling for sex work.

The alleged victim posted an ad at a party in Sacramento saying he was willing to do anything from “arm candy” to a “no-strings-attached girlfriend.” He charged $300 for half an hour and $500 for 60 minutes. Police staged a sting operation in September by arranging a “date” with the alleged victim at a hotel room Mays had rented.

Kevin Mays of the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners dunks in the second half against the Oklahoma Sooners in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena on March 18, 2016 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

In an interview with police following the operation, she referred to Mays as her “boyfriend” who “routinely” paid for her travel expenses.

ESPN noted that none of Mays’ alleged victims were Cal State Bakersfield students or staff. But police reports cited by the news outlet indicate that Mays purchased a rental car used for the alleged smuggling through a university account.

Mays is now hit with 11 charges, including pimping, possession of an automatic firearm and high-capacity magazine, possession of methamphetamine and marijuana with the intent to sell, and child pornography charges. A preliminary hearing, delayed nearly five months, is scheduled for March 13, and he has pleaded not guilty.