Judge allows case against ex-Bucknell coach in player's death to proceed

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  Tisha ThompsonSep 18, 2026, 05:15 PM ET

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  Tisha Thompson is an investigative reporter for ESPN based in Washington, D.C. Her work appears on all platforms, both domestically and internationally.

A Pennsylvania judge ruled Friday to allow a criminal case related to the 2024 death of a freshman player to proceed against a former Bucknell football coach.

Judge Jeffrey L. Mensch of the Union County Magisterial District Court scheduled the trial to start Nov. 2.

Mark Kublis was charged in July with felony aggravated hazing and misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and hazing following the death of 18-year-old Calvin "CJ" Dickey Jr.

As the former strength and conditioning coach, Kulbis subjected Dickey and other players to 100 up-downs and several full-body plank drills during a July 2024 workout, "in spite of training and direction from other coaches that such exercises were not appropriate or safe for use as part of training," according to the attorney general's statement in July.

Dickey collapsed during the workout and died two days later.

During Friday's hearing, Montour County coroner Scott E. Lynn testified that he initially determined that Dickey had died from natural causes due to dilated cardiomyopathy by rhabdomyolysis (or rhabdo).

"He had an enlarged heart," Lynn testified.

But after reviewing additional evidence collected by the attorney general's office, Lynn testified that he amended the cause of death in June to also include "stress-induced sickle cell crisis" and "forced physical exertion."

Lynn testified that he changed the death certificate because "someone else's actions caused this to occur."

Former Bucknell offensive coordinator John Bear, Dickey's mother Nicole, and former head football athletic trainer Kaiti Hager were among those who testified at Friday's hearing.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Jaime Keating presented evidence to show that Kulbis received training on hazing, sickle-cell trait and rhabodo, and that Kulbis had been told Dickey tested positive for sickle-cell trait. Keating told the judge that Kulbis "ignored his education" and forced Dickey and other players to do a "punishment workout."

Hager testified that a group of players came rushing into her office telling her that a student collapsed. When she entered the weight room, she immediately suspected Dickey was having a "sickling crisis" and gave him oxygen while telling Kulbis to call 911, she said.

Pennsylvania's anti-hazing law has a provision that grants immunity from prosecution to people who seek emergency medical help for a victim.

Kulbis' defense attorney, Barbara Zemlock, told the judge that the 911 call should give Kulbis immunity for the hazing charges.

"The immunity is an interesting argument," Mensch said, but the judge ultimately decided that since he was only overseeing a preliminary hearing to determine if there was enough evidence for the case to move to trial, it wasn't within his purview to make that decision.