A prominent lawyer and former basketball star honored by former President Barack Obama for campaigning to stop violence against women on college campuses has been charged for allegedly stalking and beating his girlfriend — then stopping her from reporting him.

Cody McDavis, who played basketball at the University of Northern Colorado before studying law at UCLA and becoming an associate at Los Angeles firm Vedder Price, was even profiled in Sports Illustrated for his efforts to have the NCAA ban students with a history of violence from playing sports.

But on July 20, McDavis was charged with six felony and three misdemeanor counts accusing him of undertaking a yearlong campaign of violence and intimidation against his girlfriend between July 2025 and June 2026, according to a complaint filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Cody McDavis, a lawyer and former college basketball player who worked on a national campaign to end domestic violence, has been charged with stalking and beating his girlfriend. Youtube/UCLA School of Law

Prosecutors allege the 32-year-old “willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly” followed and harassed his girlfriend, leaving her in fearing for the safety of herself and her immediate family.

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.

Launched by the Obama-Biden administration in 2014, the initiative sought to combat sexual assault on college campuses.

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 participating in an Obama administration program to combat domestic violence against women on college campuses. AFP via Getty Images Vice President Joe Biden honors McDavis in Washington, DC in 2016 for his work on the “It’s On Us” campaign. NurPhoto via Getty Images

“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,” McDavis said during his acceptance speech.

“That makes me sick, I can’t stand that.” 

One of the women in the audience was Brenda Tracy — a rape survivor and advocate — who McDavis credited for spurring his commitment to sexual violence awareness. 

“You are a survivor, and what you say matters and we should be listening,” McDavis said about Tracy during his speech. 

The two worked together to develop the “Tracy Rule,” a policy intended to bar college athletes convicted of or found responsible for serious sexual or violent misconduct from competing.

McDavis was also named a Solidarity Honoree at the 2019 Voices of Solidarity event. Getty Images McDavis played college basketball for the University of Northern Colorado. AP

McDavis pushed the NCAA Power Five conferences to support the ban on student-athletes with a history of violence by starting a petition that garnered more than 280,000 signatures in 2019. 

“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,” McDavis wrote in the Change.org petition. 

While the NCAA has not adopted the rule, individual schools have voluntarily enforced it. 

Former college baller McDavis was even featured in a Sports Illustrated in 2019. AP

McDavis was even featured in a Sports Illustrated article titled “Cody McDavis Fighting to See Change in the NCAA Sexual Assault Policy” in 2019 after the campaign gained traction.  

The former division one basketball player has retained prominent defense attorney Shawn Holley, who was a member of OJ Simpson’s defense team, and has represented celebrities including Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Lindsay Lohan.

The California Post reached out to Holley and Vedder Price for comment but neither responded.

The charges against McDavis include three felony counts of inflicting corporal injury on his girlfriend, two for stalking and one for attempting to stop her from pursing prosecution. 

He also faces three misdemeanor counts of violating a protective order, according to the complaint. 

McDavis is scheduled to be arraigned on September 2, and recommended bail be set at $550,000. 

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