Gophers wrestling coach J Robinson collected about 1,400 pills of the prescription sedative Xanax that members of his team were ready to sell, yet did not report the drug issue to police, one wrestler told the Star Tribune on Wednesday.
University of Minnesota officials confirmed that campus police are investigating alleged drug abuse by members of the wrestling team but would not comment further.
Robinson did not respond to a voicemail message on his cellphone, the university would not make President Eric Kaler available for comment, and a school spokesman said interim athletic director Beth Goetz and incoming AD Mark Coyle were both traveling and unavailable for comment.
The wrestler, who spoke to the Star Tribune on the condition of anonymity, said he talked to police about Robinson's handling of the team's Xanax issue.
The source said that at one point, four teammates had a stash of 2,500 Xanax pills they had obtained in the mail from a former teammate and were selling from the 17th Avenue Hall dormitory on campus.
"It was $5 a pill for anyone on the team and $8 for anyone else," said the source, who estimates that 10 to 12 members of the team were abusing Xanax. He said wrestlers also sold pills to athletes from other Gophers sports.
Robinson, 69, completed his 30th season at Minnesota this spring and has an impressive resume in his three decades in Dinkytown. Since taking the job in 1986, the three-time National Coach of the Year has brought the Gophers to three national championships, the only titles in program history.
In late March, less than one week after the season ended, Robinson called a team meeting, the source said.