USC Upstate officials say they consider an online posting by a former volunteer coaching assistant a "very serious threat" against the university's athletics director Mike Hall.
A university spokeswoman, Tammy Whaley, said Monday that the University received word about the video post late Saturday evening and that the proper authorities are investigating. Whaley said the university's police department is investigating, but she wouldn't elaborate further.
Murray Glenn, a spokesman for the 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office, said prosecutors have been consulted about the case, but he directed any further questions back to USC Upstate.
On July 13, Colton Hodge, a former volunteer track and field coaching assistant, posted a video of himself on YouTube. In the video, Hodge asks S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley to help in his quest to become the athletics director for USC Upstate.
Hodge then breaks out in a profanity-laced rap about Hall, saying at one point how the A.D. is "flirting with death."
In the video, Hodge says, "you can die in a blink of an eye, so bat your eyelashes and keep winking and blowing kisses because you're flirting with death."
At another point, a picture of Hall is flashed on the screen with a pair of cross hairs while Hodge continues the rap, "I'm destroying your livelihood; I ain't just hurting your rep. Zeroing in on the target like a marksman, and the target is you."
Hodge said he does not like Mike Hall, but has no intentions to cause him any harm.
"Because you rap and do this stuff, [people think] that you're a violent person, and that's not actually the case. It's just a form of expression," Hall said in an interview Monday afternoon.
Hodge said the lyrics came largely from an Eminem song, a popular rapper with a history of violent lyrics.
When asked if he had plans to kill or hurt Mike Hall, Hodge said, "no, but I do want to embarrass him."
The spokeswoman said Hodge resigned his volunteer position last month, but because of restrictions on personnel files, she couldn't say much more.
However, Hodge said he became upset with the USC Upstate program after not receiving the proper gratitude after his four years of volunteering with the track and field team.
Hodge's great uncle G.B. Hodge was a founding member of USC Upstate, and the university named its athletics facility after Mr. Hodge. The G.B. Hodge Center opened in 1973.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnwmhLJxErU
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