Georgia State Interim Tennis Director Robin Stephenson is currently under investigation after Georgia State Athletics received a list of alleged NCAA and Georgia State violations against Stephenson. The allegations against her were made by former men’s tennis head coach Joerg Barthel and included using University money for personal trips, recruiting violations and giving extra benefits to a student athlete.
Georgia State Athletics confirmed April 23 that it is investigating the recently promoted women’s tennis head coach, who now oversees both the men’s and women’s programs. Athletics began the investigation after it was tipped off this past weekend by Barthel, according to multiple sources.
The Signal has also received a copy of what it believes to be the allegations that were submitted to Athletics.
Last month, Stephenson was named in a separate investigation that led to the dismissal of men’s tennis coaches Joerg Barthel and Cesar Vargas. Barthel was alleged to have met up with Stephenson in Europe on a personal trip that was paid for by using University money. Barthel said in the investigation they were recruiting together.
Both complaints mention an explicit relationship between Barthel and Stephenson. In the men’s tennis investigation, the name “Robin” was frequently mentioned in text messages and Facebook messages between Barthel and Vargas when talking about a past relationship between Barthel and her. It was not clear from the documents whether they were talking about Stephenson or not.
Georgia State Athletic Director Cheryl Levick said last week that Stephenson was not fired following the men’s tennis investigation because she “was not found to be in violation of any NCAA or University rules.”
Instead, Stephenson was promoted as as interim director of tennis following Barthel’s dismissal.
The allegations came just a couple days following the women’s tennis team winning the Sun Belt tournament.
Stephenson was also awarded the Sun Belt’s Coach of the Year last week, and senior Abigail Tere-Apisah was decorated as the conference’s player of the year.
The Signal has already requested records involving the allegations and investigation surrounding Stephenson.
Check back here for more updates.
