A former SDSU equestrian coach was indicted last week on a felony count of grand theft, which could mean up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Court documents allege that former South Dakota State University equestrian coach Kamerra Brown used university and taxpayer resources to pay for veterinary bills and boarding for her horses for about a year.
The case is being prosecuted by the South Dakota attorney general’s Public Integrity Unit, according to a news release. Tony Mangan, communications director, said a tip was given to the unit.Brown’s next court appearance is Feb. 23 at 9 a.m.
Mike Lockrem, a spokesperson for SDSU, said the university does not comment on pending investigations or litigation. He also said there are two assistant coaches in charge of the program until a new head coach can be named.
Brown was a graduate assistant, then assistant coach for the Jacks from 2010 to 2014. In addition, Brown was an assistant equestrian coach at Delaware State from 2014-16.
She also served as the Equestrian Club’s adviser and mentored equine studies students at Bridgewater College from 2016-18.
She was then a professor of equine studies and hunter/jumper instructor at William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri, before coming to SDSU, according to her biography on SDSU Athletics’ website, GoJacks.com, which is still public as of Tuesday.
It’s unclear whether Brown was fired or if she was put on administrative leave. SDSU Athletic Director Justin Sell said he could not comment on the circumstances surrounding Brown’s termination.
Open SD’s state employee salary lookup shows her employment status as an “inactive employee.”
Mackenzie Rush, an SDSU junior, recently parted with the team after joining as a freshman in 2023. She said the circumstances of Brown’s departure from SDSU were not fully explained to the team.
“They really didn’t even tell us that she was let go. They really were just like, ‘We can’t tell you anything. It’s not in our wheelhouse to tell you anything,’” Rush said. “I’m assuming for legal purposes that they were trying to just keep everybody, you know, kind of out of it.”
“Nobody really knew what was going on,” she added. “We just knew that we were in season. We still had a team. We had two coaches, and that was kind of our goal, was just to make the season like any other, you know.”
Senior Associate Athletic Director Holly VanVlymen testified before the grand jury for the indictment on Jan. 8 in Brookings, according to court documents.
A volunteer assistant coach, Julia Werkhoven, was brought in for the fall semester. Werkhoven graduated from SDSU in 2024 and was a former equestrian student-athlete. As of this week, there are three coaches listed on the Equestrian team’s roster page on GoJacks.com. None of them is designated as “head coach.”
Currently, 19 Division I programs sponsor equestrian, according to the NCAA website. The organization’s website also says the average DI equestrian roster has 39 student-athletes.
A count on Tuesday night showed there are 26 student-athletes listed on the team’s roster page on GoJacks.com. A check on last year’s roster page shows that as many as 14 student-athletes left the team after the spring season. That number included three seniors. This year’s roster includes five freshmen, according to the website.
When asked if the university is looking for a head coach for equestrian, Sell responded by saying the team would be “staffed appropriately to run our team, and so our student-athletes can have a good experience.”
The Jackrabbits’ first competition this semester is against Texas Christian University on Feb. 6 at the Dehaan Equestrian Center in Brookings.
Collegian Media asked last Thursday for public records of the equestrian team’s expenses. The university has yet to respond to the request.
Collegian Media reached out to Brown for comment and has not heard back.
