Alabama head baseball coach Brad Bohannon is one of three university employees that are currently being sued by a former player.

Johnny Blake Bennett, a pitcher from Haleyville, Alabama, is alleging Bohannon, pitching coach Jason Jackson and team trainer Sean Stryker were negligent after Bennett suffered an arm injury in 2019 and the staff didn’t follow UA or NCAA guidelines.

Per the complaint filed in Tuscaloosa Country Circuit court on March 10, Bennett unknowingly broke a rib during strength training after arriving on campus which led to thoracic outlet syndrome (TOC). When he began throwing 60 feet on flat ground a few weeks later, Bennett started to feel numbness and couldn’t control his throws. The civil suit alleges Bohannon, Jackson and Stryker mismanaged Bennett’s recovery.

According to the complaint, Stryker identified Bennett’s ailment as the “yips” — a shorthand term for when an athlete has a mental blockage preventing them from completing a routine act — and ignored follow-up concerns from Bennett. They advised him not to tell his parents. Bennett’s health and lack of production were cited by Bohannon. Bennett alleges, the coach informed him he would not be receiving a scholarship while rehabbing from a March 2020 surgery ahead of his sophomore season.

UA Athletics provided a statement to AL.com Friday night: “The University does not comment on pending litigation but looks forward to sharing the actual facts with the court. The mental and physical well-being of its student-athletes is of the utmost importance to the University. We have supreme confidence in our coaching staffs and provide our student-athletes with access to the best sports medicine personnel and sports psychology practitioners in the country.”

Bennett spent a year at Pensacola (Fla.) State Community College and then joined Jacksonville State University and appeared in seven games as a reliever. After the Gamecocks faced UA on May 12, 2022, the suit alleges Bennett was “unexpectedly” dismissed from the team without explanation.

“As a result of the above-stated negligence, Plantiff was caused to endure unnecessary and prolonged physical pain and suffering from the broken rib and TOS; … Plantiff has suffered and continues to suffer mental anguish, emotional distress, embarrassment, humiliation and anxiety,” the lawsuit reads in part.

Bennett is seeking punitive damages and a trial jury while being represented by Mobile lawyers Eaton G. Barnard and James J. Dailey. They issued the first complaint on Sept. 19, 2022. The defense’s latest motion to dismiss was filed on March 31, 2023. A court date is set for June 20, per a court document filed Thursday.

A Georgia native, Bohannon was an assistant at Kentucky and Auburn. With the Wildcats in 2015, he was named Baseball America’s assistant of the year. Bohannon was named Alabama’s head coach in 2017 and has a 160-119 record, reaching the NCAA Regional in 2021.

Jackson joined Bohannon’s staff in Tuscaloosa after nine years as Florida Atlantic’s pitching and associate head coach. Stryker received a bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Penn State in 2021. He has his master’s in sports medicine from Delaware. Stryker has worked with the Baltimore Orioles and was with Bohannon with the Wildcats and Tigers.

Bennett was a two-time ASWA Class 4A second-team honoree in 2017-18, striking out 324 batters at Haleyville High. Perfect Game USA rated the lefty as the sixth overall prospect in the state.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected]