Whitman County judge issues full protection order against WSU basketball player Emmanuel Ugbo

PULLMAN – A Whitman County judge has issued a full protection order for a woman against Washington State basketball player Emmanuel Ugbo, who has been suspended for the past four games over what coach David Riley has called a violation of team rules.

At a hearing Wednesday morning, Judge Roger Sandberg extended what was a temporary protection order for a WSU volleyball player, who accused Ugbo of stalking and harassing her after she ended their relationship. The new protection order is for one year.

It’s unclear what this means for the rest of Ugbo’s first season with WSU. The Cougars have four more regular-season games left, plus the West Coast Conference Tournament, which starts March 5 in Las Vegas.

In his decision, Sandberg said he doesn’t think it would be fair for WSU to prevent Ugbo from participating in practices and games over this development.

Ugbo is now barred from contacting and being within a certain distance of the woman, who filed for a civil protection order against him on Jan. 29, according to Whitman County Superior Court records.

Ugbo’s suspension began with WSU’s home game against Portland on Jan. 31. He has not been present for any of the Cougars’ games since, including a road game against Oregon State, a home game against Santa Clara and last week’s road game against Gonzaga.

The woman ended her relationship with Ugbo in late December, she stated in court records, but Ugbo continued to try and contact her in various ways, including other phone numbers, teammates’ phones, social media and Spotify.

Following the end of the relationship, teammates and friends of the woman noticed she was “in physical and mental distress,” according to court records, and that she “has been increasingly anxious and crying more than usual.”

About a day after the woman ended their relationship, Ugbo contacted her to inquire why she had been messaging other women Ugbo knew, he said in court records. That included one of Ugbo’s ex-girlfriends, who he said he had still been in communication with during his relationship with the woman.

In an effort to reach the woman about this situation, Ugbo said, he called and texted her twice. Neither were returned. Using a teammate’s phone, he made two calls, the second of which the woman picked up. After that conversation, Ugbo said, he did not leave with the impression “that our relationship was permanently over.”

According to the woman’s statement in court records, about a week after she ended the relationship and blocked his phone number in addition to several of his social media platforms, Ugbo sent “unwanted” flowers to the woman’s home address in Michigan during winter break – in an effort, according to court records, to “win her back.”

According to the woman, Ugbo found the address by searching the name of her friend, which returned a webpage for the grandfather’s obituary, which included an address to send flowers for the family.

Ugbo remembered that the woman and her friend were neighbors growing up, the woman said, so Ugbo searched the woman’s father’s name, found a corresponding address, and used Google Maps to determine that the two addresses were three houses apart. Ugbo then sent flowers to that address, leaving a card signed by her “secret admirer,” which he said was a reference to an inside joke they shared during their relationship.

On Jan. 12, according to court records, Ugbo used the Snapchat account of a teammate to message the woman. On that day, she had come to the dorm of several WSU men’s basketball players to ask to use their vacuum cleaner. When she saw Ugbo, she left and he followed her back to her dorm, where her roommate told him she wasn’t there.

That’s when Ugbo used a teammate’s Snapchat account to message the woman, according to court records. In his statement filed in court records, Ugbo said “I just wanted to talk to her, but I knew I didn’t deserve her time.”

In her court filing, the woman attached a photo she took through a door peephole, where a person she says was Ugbo is visible. She said Ugbo “came to my place of residence to try and talk to me.”

In another incident, on the evening of Jan. 24, Ugbo went with teammates to the Emporium, a 21-and-older bar in Pullman. He didn’t expect to see the woman there because she is under 21, according to court records, but she arrived and later approached the group that Ugbo was with. Ugbo attempted to stand farther away from the woman, according to court records.

At the end of the night, Ugbo asked the woman to speak with her, according to court records, but the woman moved away without replying. After the two crossed paths in the parking lot, according to court records, Ugbo was walking home when the woman rode past and rolled down her window. Ugbo said “I love you,” according to court records, to which the woman responded with an expletive.

A transfer from Boise State, Ugbo is averaging 6.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in 18.1 minutes per game in his first season with the Cougars.