Longtime University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's volleyball coach Brian Gavlas has been fired by the university after it was revealed he recruited a player who was on bail, charged with sexual assault.

The U of S announced Gavlas's termination in a statement released Thursday, attributed to chief athletics officer Shawn Burt and kinesiology dean Chad London.

"The situation raised significant concerns as to how the player was allowed to become a Huskie athlete," the statement said.

Matthew Meyer, originally from Prince Albert, played the most recent season for the Huskies. Meyer had previously been charged with sexual assault while attending Medicine Hat College in Alberta. He was freed on bail in 2016.

After the Huskies volleyball season was done, Meyer returned to Medicine Hat, where he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on Medicine Hat College Campus and taking pictures of her. Meyer was sentenced to two years in prison on Monday.

Earlier this week, the Prince Albert Daily Herald quoted Gavlas as saying people in his position, "have to do everything they can to give young adults and teenagers an opportunity to grow and develop and improve on their character and improve on their choices and improve on their lifestyles."

Matthew Meyer pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault, and video-taping the assault, on Monday in Medicine Hat, Alta. (Josh Schaefer/Huskie Athletics website)

The school became aware of Mayer's conviction Tuesday. Prior to this week, London and Burt say they had no knowledge of Meyer's charges, and to their understanding, neither did others within the administration.

Meyer was removed from the team Tuesday, and Gavlas was fired Thursday.

For the victim of the assault, whose assailant left one Canadian university to play varsity volleyball at another, Chad London has a message.

"We're incredibly sorry," he said.

She cannot be named due to the law protecting the privacy of victims of sexual assault.

Recruitment, conduct review underway

Huskies athletes are expected to follow a code of conduct which states their personal conduct reflects upon the university.

"Discussions are underway to look at our recruiting process in totality already. That will continue and this situation will obviously have us be even more diligent in looking at our entire recruiting process across all sports," said London.

Meyer had been recruited by Gavlas out of high school. He ended up attending Medicine Hat College, but when he left in 2016 after he was charged with sexual assault and freed on bail, Gavlas recruited Meyer again.

"Based on our investigation and speaking with past and current administration, no one was aware of this," said London.

He says the behaviour demonstrated by Meyer is unacceptable and if administration had known about the sexual assault charges, Meyer would not have been admitted as a student-athlete.

If an athlete is charged while playing for the U of S, though, the process is different.

"The code of conduct has a process where allegations are made complaints are heard a disciplinary board is convened and takes the appropriate action, because every situation is different," said London.

Coaching since 1992

Gavlas has been a fixture of Huskie Athletics for over two decades.

London and Burt say it is unclear how much training he received during that time.

However, the school delivers "a robust series of programs devoted to awareness, education and training to prevent sexual assault," said Sean Burt, chief athletics officer.

Two of the programs, called Bringing in the Bystander, and React to Sexual Assault, are available to students as well. The aim is to train people how to proactively prevent sexual assault, or how to step in.

Burt and London were unable to say whether Gavlas had received these specific modules in training.

Huskie Athletics will start looking for a new coach in the next few weeks.

Sask Party, Opposition agree comments unacceptable

Earlier Thursday, Saskatchewan's advanced education minister Tina-Beaudry Mellor criticized Gavlas's earlier comments and called on the university to send a "strong message."

Advanced Education Minister Tina Beaudry-Mellor says coach Brian Gavlas comments about Matthew Meyer are unacceptable. (CBC News) "The comments are important because they're reflective of an overall attitude that I think is really problematic when we're dealing with sexual assault," said Beaudry-Mellor.

"Also with a person who is in charge of not just coaching athletes, but mentoring young people."

Beaudry-Mellor referenced the University of Regina's Man Up Against Violence campaign, which encourages young men, especially athletes, to take a stand against violence and sexual assault.

"Athletes have a particular stature in universities," she said

"This is an example of where we need to be very careful about what kind of behaviour we're emulating."

NDP Justice Critic Nicole Sarauer agreed with Sask Party cabinet minister Beaudry-Mellor, but went further, appealing to the government to put a sexual assault action plan in place. (CBC) The NDP's Justice critic, Nicole Sarauer, backed Beaudry-Mellor's comments in speaking to press after Question Period.

"I was very upset and angry when I saw the comments in the media yesterday. That attitude and those comments are completely unacceptable," she said, referring to Gavlas's interview.

Sarauer critiqued the province's overall sexual assault response. Saskatchewan is the only province without a formal plan to address sexual assault.

The province also has the second-highest incidence of self-reported sexual assault in the country.

"We need something more comprehensive in this province, not just piecemeal pilot projects from the federal government," said Sarauer.