FORT COLLINS — Colorado State’s ongoing climate assessment of its men’s basketball program began last Monday and was initially expected to be a quick look into an isolated incident, but it has now been a week and there appears to be no easy conclusion.

The assessment began when a player’s parent voiced concern to athletic director Joe Parker about the way coach Larry Eustachy singled out that parent’s son during a team meeting, according to a source. The source said because Eustachy was already investigated by the university during the 2013-14 season, Parker felt he needed to take action.

Parker, along with deputy athletic director Steve Cottingham and compliance director Shalini Shanker, interviewed staff members and players on Monday and Tuesday last week. And according to multiple sources, several players spoke out against Eustachy, who is known to use foul language and intimidation in order to get the most out of his team.

At the end of the investigation four years ago, then-athletic director Jack Graham sent Eustachy a letter, which is supposed to be confidential but has since been made public by multiple media outlets, detailing a zero-tolerance policy Eustachy had to follow to correct his behavior. The first directive was refraining from the use of “direct profane, derogatory and/or demeaning language or gestures in the presence of or towards your players, staff, or anyone else while acting in the score of your employment.”

When asked if the zero-tolerance policy was still in effect, an athletic department spokesperson declined to comment because the policy was meant to be confidential.

“He changed for a couple days, a couple weeks,” a former player said of Eustachy’s conduct after the 2013-14 investigation compared to before it.

During two different games this season, at Utah State and against Air Force, Eustachy grilled one of his players the point the player was nearly in tears. The coach’s behavior during one of the instances was enough to cause a fan sitting nearby to speak out against the head coach.

Eustachy continued to coach for the first five days of the climate assessment, which was confirmed by the university last Wednesday after it was first reported by Justin Michael, former sports director of the Rocky Mountain Collegian.

On Tuesday, the second day of the assessment, Eustachy told his team that university president Tony Frank had assured Eustachy that his job was safe, a story first reported by The Denver Post on Friday and later confirmed by sources to the Reporter-Herald.

In reaction to the story, CSU released a statement denying Eustachy’s alleged conversation with Frank ever took place. On Saturday, Parker put the 62-year-old head coach on administrative leave until the climate assessment is completed, a decision made nearly 24 hours after the story was first published by the Post.

According to another source, players and staff members found out about the leave on social media nearly an hour after it was made public and never met face to face with Parker at any point on Saturday.

Eustachy would still be coaching the team if his comments about the alleged conversation with Frank hadn’t been made public, multiple sources have confirmed.

CSU has put associate head coach Steve Barnes in charge of the program until Parker finishes the assessment.

Barnes and Eustachy have known each other since growing up together in Arcadia, California, where their mothers both worked at the same elementary school.

Barnes has been Eustachy’s top assistant for a majority of Eustachy’s career and shares many of the same coaching tactics.

If the university is concerned about Eustachy’s ability to lead the team right now, the school should be equally or more concerned about Barnes being the one in charge, a source said.

“There is a culture of fear, and those that are close to the program would attest to it,” the source told the Reporter-Herald. “(Barnes) is a model of Eustachy; however, there’s a distinct repulsion amongst the players in regards to Steve.”

The source also referred to Barnes as an enabler of Eustachy’s controversial behavior. Barnes was asked about this after Saturday’s game, but said he couldn’t comment because it was related to the ongoing assessment.

The events of the past week don’t appear to be affecting the Rams on the court, even though the team has lost six straight.

CSU lost in double-overtime to Wyoming on Wednesday, the same day news about the assessment broke, and then went toe-to-toe with first-place Nevada on Saturday, just hours after Eustachy was put on administrative leave.

Barnes says players have successfully dealt with the distractions because the team is so accustomed to dealing with adversity in practice. Multiple players agreed with that sentiment on Monday.

“We’re just trying to stay together, stay as a team,” sophomore forward Nico Carvacho said. “We’re not allowed to comment on (the assessment), so we’re just going to go out there and play hard, play for each other and play for the fans.”

Sean Star: sstar@reporter-herald.com or twitter.com/seanvstar