Why should he not defend him before anything came out? What if it all turned out to be a lie? Because that never happens right? Maybe his knee jerk reaction was exactly that? Because he's human and people do things like that. And he's obviously learned from his mistakes. Because clearly nothing like it has ever happened at any point in his coaching career. If that were such a god awful thing, he would never coach again in college basketball. But guess what? He's had 3 different jobs since then. And I can guarantee you, he's been asked about it at every single interview. If no one is allowed to make mistakes and learn from them, well then screw it. Everyone needs fired.