Cody McDavis, 32, the 6-foot-8 former University of Northern Colorado basketball standout who later earned a law degree from UCLA and joined the firm Vedder Price, was charged on July 20 with six felony counts and three misdemeanors.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles County Superior Court allege he “willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly” followed and harassed his girlfriend from July 2025 through June 2026, leaving her in fear for her safety and that of her family. The charges include three felony counts of inflicting corporal injury, two for stalking, one for attempting to prevent her from pursuing prosecution, and three misdemeanor counts of violating a protective order.
McDavis now faces stark contradiction to his public image.
Under former President Barack Obama, McDavis received a Champion of Change award for his work with the “It’s On Us” initiative, a campaign launched by the Obama-Biden administration in 2014 to raise awareness about assault on college campuses.
McDavis was even profiled in Sports Illustrated for his efforts to have the NCAA ban students with a history of violence from playing sports.
He wrote in his Change.org petition:
“My name is Cody McDavis. I am a former Division I student-athlete and the prevalence of sexual violence in college athletics makes me sick. That’s why I’m calling on the Power Five Conference Commissioners — the most influential conferences in the NCAA — to immediately ban student-athletes with a history of violence.”
In 2019, McDavis pressed the NCAA’s Power Five conferences to adopt the ban, launching a Change.org petition that drew more than 280,000 signatures.
At the 2019 Voices of Solidarity event, McDavis spoke to those gathered.
“The women in here who are doing this incredible work are told and told and told we want to hear your voice, but when you start talking, you get shoved down.”
He also struck an angry tone about the issue.
“That makes me sick, I can’t stand that,” he added, positioning himself as a moral authority in the national conversation on sexual misconduct.
McDavis was also named a Solidarity Honoree at the 2019 Voices of Solidarity event, which recognizes men who stand against gender-based violence and serve as allies to survivors.
McDavis has hired an experienced defense team for the case.
McDavis has retained high-powered defense attorney Shawn Holley, part of the O.J. Simpson “Dream Team,” and later counsel to Kanye West, Justin Bieber, and Lindsay Lohan.
The case has drawn widespread attention for the stark contrast.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, McDavis, 32, is accused of a prolonged pattern of disturbing conduct involving his girlfriend between July 2025 and June 2026.
Prosecutors allege that McDavis repeatedly followed and harassed the woman and that his conduct left her concerned not only for her own safety but also for members of her immediate family.
Multiple counts allege ongoing conduct against the same victim.
The charges include three felony counts of inflicting corporal injury, two for stalking, one for attempting to prevent her from pursuing prosecution, and three misdemeanor counts of violating a protective order.
McDavis’s activism had made him a visible national figure in prevention work.
McDavis’ campaign drew enough national attention that Sports Illustrated profiled him in a 2019 feature titled “Cody McDavis Fighting to See Change in the NCAA Sexual Assault Policy,” portraying him as a reformer pushing the sports world to embrace stricter, more punitive measures.
The allegations against him now mirror conduct he spent years condemning in public statements.
In the yearlong pattern prosecutors describe, the girlfriend repeatedly feared for those close to her.
The case has caught legal observers off guard given McDavis’s public record.
The allegations are a stunning contrast with McDavis’ years of public advocacy against sexual and gender-based violence. The 6-foot-8 lawyer received numerous accolades for his sexual violence prevention work, including a White House Champion of Change award under Obama for his role in the “It’s On Us” campaign.
He is scheduled to be arraigned September 2.