Stephen F. Austin State University assistant women's bowling coach Steve Lemke, the husband of head coach Amber Lemke, lost his job after having an affair with a player on the team, the Daily Sentinel reports.
Lemke, 38, opted to resign rather than be fired this spring after the university found out about the affair with the student-athlete, SFA athletic director Ryan Ivey said in a statement to the Daily Sentinel, who chose to leave the athlete's identity anonymous.
“He’s not working here anymore,” Ivey said. “From a departmental standpoint, he had a choice and he chose to resign.”
Lemke said the relationship was consensual, but “amplified to the magnitude that it is now because of the national championship caliber that we’ve developed," referring to the team's recent success, while still acknowledging that it violated the university's relationship rule.
“I think it’s more of an ethics thing when it comes to the college as far as a coach/teacher being with a student-athlete,” Lemke said.
The Stephen F. Austin women's bowling team is the only program that has won a national title since the university elevated to NCAA's Division I, winning the NCAA title in 2019 and 2019, as well as finishing as a runner-up in 2015 and 2022. Steve and Amber Lemke, who opted not to respond to the Daily Sentinel's request for comment, have filed for divorce since his spring resignation.
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