Overview
- Mark Kulbis surrendered to authorities Monday and was arraigned with $10,000 bail while a preliminary hearing is set for July 28.
- Prosecutors say Kulbis ordered 100 'up-downs' and multiple full-body plank drills during the first-day workout that led the player to collapse on July 10, 2024 and die two days later.
- Authorities allege Kulbis knew of Calvin “CJ” Dickey Jr.'s sickle cell trait and had received university training on the condition yet assigned the intense calisthenics and did not summon help until Dickey lost consciousness.
- An autopsy cited exertional rhabdomyolysis combined with Dickey's sickle cell trait and body weight as the cause of death, and the player's family has filed a wrongful-death suit that a judge recently allowed to proceed.
- The case connects NCAA sickle cell screening rules and Pennsylvania's 2017 aggravated hazing law and could prompt greater scrutiny of conditioning practices, coach training, and institutional oversight.