A criminal case related to the 2024 death of an 18-year-old college football player can proceed against one of his former coaches, a Pennsylvania judge ruled Friday.Former Bucknell strength and conditioning coach Mark Kulbis will stand trial for felony aggravated hazing and misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and hazing for the death of 18-year-old Calvin ‘CJ’ Dickey Jr.’This was an important step in the prosecution process and in our continued pursuit of justice for a young man who died tragically due to the defendant’s conduct,’ Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a department statement.Senior Deputy Attorney General Jaime Keating will prosecute the case against Kulbis, who has denied culpability in the tragedy through his attorney.Dickey was a freshman in July 2024 when Kulbis told him and other football players to do 100 ‘up-downs,’ also known as ‘burpees,’ along with full-body plank drills, according to the attorney general’s office. Dickey had sickle-cell trait, a medical condition that can increase the risk of serious injury or death following extreme exertion.’We’re at the point where we’re just glad that someone is being held responsible for our son’s death,’ Calvin Dickey Sr., of Land O’ Lakes, Florida, told The Associated Press in a phone interview when charges were initially filed in July. ‘We just want to see the process through, and we’re going to leave it to the attorney general to continue following the evidence.’ Ex-Bucknell assistant coach Mark Kulbis will stand trial for felony aggravated hazing and misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and hazing CJ Dickey Jr (right) is seen at Bucknell, where he began his college football career in 2024 ‘While the death of Calvin Dickey is tragic, Mark Kulbis did not contribute to it and is not responsible for it,’ his attorney, Barbara Zemlock, said in a written statement. ‘The strength and conditioning program that was implemented was appropriate and in accordance with the training that Mr. Kulbis received, and with applicable standards.’Sickle-cell trait, which is diagnosed through a blood test, doesn’t usually affect people’s daily lives. But it can cause decreased blood flow and muscle breakdown after intense exertion, dehydration or high body temperatures. In very rare cases, that can result in collapse and death.After other deaths involving athletes with sickle-cell trait, the NCAA in 2010 began requiring that new Division I athletes be tested for the condition and alerting coaches that athletes with it should slowly build up their intensity while training and be provided adequate rest and recovery.Dickey, who was 6ft 5in (195 cm) and nearly 300 pounds (136 kg), had grown up playing sports and by his junior year of high school decided to focus on football, his parents said. He played both offensive and defensive lineman, meaning he was often in for the vast majority of the game.According to a federal lawsuit they filed against Bucknell last year, they did not know he had sickle-cell trait until he took the mandatory screening just weeks before training camp. Calvin Dickey Sr. said that the day before camp was to start, he received assurances from the offensive line coach that his son would be protected. DIckey Jr. is pictured on the Lewisburg, Pennsylvania campus after enrolling at BucknellBut Dickey Jr. started struggling and passed out while doing exercises that Kulbis had assigned as a punishment for the players not performing drills correctly, the lawsuit said.’Upon information and belief, the up-downs were intended to serve as a punishment for all or some of the Bucknell freshman football players, including CJ,’ read the lawsuit, obtained by The Daily Mail.He was hospitalized and died two days later.The lawsuit also accuses the school of failing to be properly prepared in the event of such an emergency.’Although the NCAA requires college sports facilities to have Emergency Action Plans (‘EAPs’) designed to respond to emergencies such as the incident involving CJ, and requires that the EAPs be rehearsed by all coaches, trainers, and university employees, Defendant Bucknell did not have the required EAPs and therefore could not and had not rehearsed the EAPs,’ the complaint read.Bucknell has declined to comment on the pending litigation.’The death of a student is always a tragic loss,’ Bucknell said in an April 2025 statement. ‘While the University will not comment on pending litigation, we again extend heartfelt sympathies to CJ’s family, and we will continue to focus on our most important priority — the health and safety of all Bucknell students.’While it is rare for coaches to be charged criminally in cases where athletes collapse and die, there are several examples. Calvin Dickey Jr., center, poses for a photo with his father, Calvin Dickey Sr., and mother, Nicole Dickey, in Tampa on March 31, 2024. The family is currently suing Bucknell In Georgia, a girls basketball coach and an assistant coach were charged with murder after 16-year-old Imani Bell suffered heat stroke and died in 2019 during a training session that was held outdoors despite a heat advisory being in effect. That case remains pending. The school district settled the family’s lawsuit for $10 million and agreed to rename the gym in her honor.In 2009, a former Kentucky high school football coach was acquitted of reckless homicide and endangerment charges in the heatstroke death of 15-year-old Max Gilpin. Defense attorneys argued that Gilpin’s medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder had caused him to overheat.Dickey Sr. and his wife, Nicole Dickey, said their son loved playing football, but he planned to use his scholarship to Bucknell to receive an education that would eventually help him work in pharmacy. He became enamored of the field after speaking to a family friend who worked as a hospital pharmacist, they said.Since his death, they have channeled their grief into a foundation that helps raise awareness about sickle cell trait in athletes and promotes the health of student-athletes. It provides scholarships and hosts a program for football linemen called ’50 Cal Big Man Camp,’ after the number he wore.’Those are the kind of things right now that bring a smile to my face and touch my heart,’ Nicole Dickey told The Associated Press in July. ‘We want to protect the next generation and share what we’ve learned.’