Pennsylvania coach charged over Bucknell player’s death during practice

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office announced that Mark Kulbis, Bucknell University’s former strength and conditioning coach, was charged after 18-year-old freshman player Calvin “CJ” Dickey Jr. collapsed during July 2024 practice and died two days later; prosecutors say the death resulted from hazing and extreme exertion despite knowledge of Dickey’s Sickle Cell trait.

Prosecutors allege Kulbis ordered first-day conditioning drills including 100 up-downs and full-body plank exercises that led Dickey to struggle, lose consciousness during practice and die on 12 July in hospital. An autopsy cited exertional rhabdomyolysis combined with Sickle Cell trait as the cause of death.

The attorney general’s office characterized the incident as deliberate hazing, saying Kulbis received information about Dickey’s medical condition and NCAA anti-hazing training but disregarded those warnings. They charged Kulbis with felony aggravated hazing and related misdemeanor counts, including involuntary manslaughter.

Kulbis’s attorney, Barbara Zemlock, issued a statement saying the death was tragic but that her client did not contribute to it and had followed appropriate strength and conditioning standards and training.

Dickey collapsed during his July 2024 freshman practice after being subjected to what prosecutors describe as an extreme workout and died two days later on 12 July. Prosecutors emphasize that the combination of the intense physical exertion and Dickey’s known Sickle Cell trait produced the fatal medical outcome.

Pennsylvania enacted a felony anti-hazing law after the 2017 death of Tim Piazza at Penn State, and the state’s attorney general framed this case as preventable given established protections for athletes with Sickle Cell trait.

Separately, Dickey’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit naming Bucknell and members of its coaching staff, including Kulbis, alleging a first-year hazing ritual caused Dickey’s death and asserting that standard precautions for athletes with Sickle Cell trait were not followed.