Details on Ollie's firing

[LIuconn]

I can't read all these posts. So is UConn going forwards? Are we looking at serious punishment?

 

[Javjudah]

This will continue to get messy and will be very bad publicity for UConn should this not come to a mutual settlement soon. This will cause more damage to UConn Basketball than KO should this not stop soon. Herbst and Benedict doesn’t understand the importance of damage control at this time. The crazy thing is I always knew Ollie firing of Miller was going to lead to this... Miller is coming after UConn next... Is Miller lying to get back at Ollie and UConn? money and incompetence by Herbst and Benedict is bringing UConn down. Ollie wanted everyone to know who the rats are and who was burning UConn down...

 

[8893]

No one cares.

Take all the tweets in the universe about it and it they wouldn’t compel a $1,000 payment to Kevin Ollie, let alone $10,000,000.

Ok, how about a dollar for an oyster then?

 

[TRest]

This will continue to get messy and will be very bad publicity for UConn should this not come to a mutual settlement soon. This will cause more damage to UConn Basketball than KO should this not stop soon. Herbst and Benedict doesn’t understand the importance of damage control at this time. The crazy thing is I always knew Ollie firing of Miller was going to lead to this... Miller is coming after UConn next... Is Miller lying to get back at Ollie and UConn? money and incompetence by Herbst and Benedict is bringing UConn down. Ollie wanted everyone to know who the rats are and who was burning UConn down...

If KO's defense is that he isn't the only incompetent cheater on campus, he might want to come to the table. Which is what that statement being released today probably means.

 

[Stainmaster]

They will never accept that he should have been fired. (Hi 99 and stairs).

What a fake news liar you are. Get your head checked, whacko.

 

[Stainmaster]

DeCourcy wrote: "Kevin Ollie's only "violation" was losing games."
Nice tongue-in-cheek attempt, but Wrong.
It was the pathetic effort and lack of dedication. The "losing games" would have been a lot less rough going down for all of us if KO had looked and behaved like he actually gave a 7uck the last 24 months he was getting paid millions a year.
His "violation" was more "acting like a loser" than "losing." Not the same thing.

Aren’t you an attorney, Frank? You should know better than this.

 

[Pudge]

Is the National Media suggesting ... other Universities would just pay him the $10m?

This is the normal. It is playing out in the public space. But ... MY IMPRESSION ... was Kevin Ollie was told what was coming & could have taken a buyout sub $10m. This is about losing games. And everyone that is a stakeholder in a dynamic program losing faith and confidence in KOs ability to do the job. He did do crazy things outside the boundary; and some was done in previous Calhoun era and in other UConn sports. But ... to just get to a settlement number. The finger wagging is silly.

 

[freescooter]

Of course nobody is suggesting that other universities would have paid the $10 million. Everyone knows that they would all do the same thing. Try to negotiate then if that failed, fire for cause. And if UConn or anyone else paid the money. There would be an equal and opposite complaint about how we paid a loser who violated NCAA rules from the minuscule like shooting a few hoops to the massive like sending players to illegal workouts and maybe paying off recruits parents.

Kevin Ollie had one job. Win basketball games. If he had done that he’d be the coach and this would result in at most a reprimand. He failed. Good bye and good riddance.

 

[huskymedic]

Eaton-Robb AP Story: UConn: Ollie fired for impermissible contact, workouts

>>Benedict said Ollie had three times certified to him that the program was in compliance with all NCAA rules.<<

 

[CL82]

He said the university provided him with a list of 120 NCAA secondary violations by athletic coaches across all sports at UConn from 2010 to the present that didn’t result in the firing of the coach.

 

[FDNY99]

Here is what the Ollieistas don’t get. If you sign a contract that says you will not do x or we can void the contract, then you do x, how we enforce is t up to you. We can void the contract. We can totally ignore the breach or we can come to you and negotiate a settlement somewhere less than voiding the agreement. And it really doesn’t matter what we did in other cases. Indeed 2 things changed since Calhoun left. First the NCAA changed the rule such that head coaches are responsible for their programs. Second UConn was severely penalized for violations. Thus it is reasonable that UConn would hold Ollie to a hire standard than it had held other coaches who committed violations in the past.

I get it. There are s few remaining holdouts who deep down hope that somehow Ollie magically reappears on the bench for the opener. They will never accept that he should have been fired. (Hi 99 and stairs). But there is no question he broke the rules.

I seriously hope aren’t painting me as a “Ollie never should have been fired” because if you are then I guess you have failed to see any of my posts on that subject.

 

[amory]

I get why the school needs to go this route, but man it feels scummy.

 

[JMick]

Eaton-Robb AP Story: UConn: Ollie fired for impermissible contact, workouts

>>Benedict said Ollie had three times certified to him that the program was in compliance with all NCAA rules.<<

"But my ethics" @whaler11

 

[Madmannsucks]

KO's contract has nothing to do with how the university treated JC.

KO violated his contract, therefore he doesn't get paid.

In a civil court, it probably does.

 

[Madmannsucks]

I get why the school needs to go this route, but man it feels scummy.

Probably best summation of my feelings on this. I get it, I don't like it one bit.

 

[businesslawyer]

First take: if KO flew kids to Atlanta to be trained by a friend, and they were boarded while there, that would be a huge deal. But it would come with NCAA sanctions.

While I'm not removing blame from KO for the other stuff mentioned, it seems like small potatoes used as an excuse rather than the reason why he was fired.

And that, in a nutshell, is UConn's problem. The University is trying to thread the needle between violations being egregious enough to warrant for cause dismissal, but not egregious enough to warrant NCAA sanctions. Normally, threading the needle is terrible litigation strategy because it's too difficult to win a victory that isn't pyrhic. We'll see.

 

[TRest]

First take: if KO flew kids to Atlanta to be trained by a friend, and they were boarded while there, that would be a huge deal. But it would come with NCAA sanctions.

While I'm not removing blame from KO for the other stuff mentioned, it seems like small potatoes used as an excuse rather than the reason why he was fired.

And that, in a nutshell, is UConn's problem. The University is trying to thread the needle between violations being egregious enough to warrant for cause dismissal, but not egregious enough to warrant NCAA sanctions. Normally, threading the needle is terrible litigation strategy because it's too difficult to win a victory that isn't pyrhic. We'll see.

Do you think UConn failed to pursue the "paying a mom $30k story " for that reason, or it just didn't pan out. Because I'm sure the NCAA will take a look.

 

[CL82]

First take: if KO flew kids to Atlanta to be trained by a friend, and they were boarded while there, that would be a huge deal. But it would come with NCAA sanctions.

While I'm not removing blame from KO for the other stuff mentioned, it seems like small potatoes used as an excuse rather than the reason why he was fired.

And that, in a nutshell, is UConn's problem. The University is trying to thread the needle between violations being egregious enough to warrant for cause dismissal, but not egregious enough to warrant NCAA sanctions. Normally, threading the needle is terrible litigation strategy because it's too difficult to win a victory that isn't pyrhic. We'll see.

Serious question: Does UConn need to show that "just cause" was the sole cause for firing or just that "just cause" for firing existed?

 

[intlzncster]

Do you think UConn failed to pursue the "paying a mom $30k story " for that reason, or it just didn't pan out. Because I'm sure the NCAA will take a look.

Nothings going to happen there. There's no evidence of anything. They can request an interview with the former player and his mom, but they aren't going to divulge anything. And the NCAA has no power to force them to talk or relinquish records. That's DOA.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Nothings going to happen there. There's no evidence of anything. They can request an interview with the former player and his mom, but they aren't going to divulge anything. And the NCAA has no power to force them to talk or relinquish records. That's DOA.

NCAA, no. Alluding to Miller's sort of, I think, supposedly uh like, only $30K allegation, references to Chillious' agent discussions regarding payments to some AAU program, etc, some interest by other entities could potentially evolve given broader college hoops investigations. DOJ? FBI? IRS? Ms. Player's Mom deposit individual gifts over $14K annually (2013-17) from a single source, pay taxes, who supposedly directly provided the gift, etc?

 

[intlzncster]

NCAA, no. Alluding to Miller's sort of, I think, supposedly uh like, only $30K allegation, references to Chillious' agent discussions regarding payments to some AAU program, etc, some interest by other entities could potentially evolve given broader college hoops investigations. DOJ? FBI? IRS? Ms. Player's Mom deposit individual gifts over $14K annually (2013-17) from a single source, pay taxes, who supposedly directly provided the gift, etc?

If the shoe companies are involved, then the FBI could possibly look into it. If not, they don't give a hoot about the kids and their families. Small fish for them.

 

[Waquoit]

Nothing can happen now that would be worse for the program than if Ollie was still the coach.

 

[CL82]

NCAA, no. Alluding to Miller's sort of, I think, supposedly uh like, only $30K allegation, references to Chillious' agent discussions regarding payments to some AAU program, etc, some interest by other entities could potentially evolve given broader college hoops investigations. DOJ? FBI? IRS? Ms. Player's Mom deposit individual gifts over $14K annually (2013-17) from a single source, pay taxes, who supposedly directly provided the gift, etc?

I wonder about the potential for a slander lawsuit by KO or Chill against Miller. He does qualify his statements that the information was secondhand, but KO has the deep pockets to pursue it, if he wanted to.

 

[ASweet3781]

Nothing can happen now that would be worse for the program than if Ollie was still the coach.

This is indisputable at this point. That's why I don't really care. Quotes from players and others close clearly demonstrate the change needed to be made at any cost.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

This will continue to get messy and will be very bad publicity for UConn should this not come to a mutual settlement soon. This will cause more damage to UConn Basketball than KO should this not stop soon. Herbst and Benedict doesn’t understand the importance of damage control at this time. The crazy thing is I always knew Ollie firing of Miller was going to lead to this... Miller is coming after UConn next... Is Miller lying to get back at Ollie and UConn? money and incompetence by Herbst and Benedict is bringing UConn down. Ollie wanted everyone to know who the rats are and who was burning UConn down...

This would be better if it were half the length and you cut out different sized letters from magazines. Just sayin'

 

[huskymedic]

 

[UConnNick]

I wonder about the potential for a slander lawsuit by KO or Chill against Miller. He does qualify his statements that the information was secondhand, but KO has the deep pockets to pursue it, if he wanted to.

Ollie's chances of proving a defamation case against Miller are even more remote than his chances of prevailing in arbitration and/or a federal court appeal challenging the arbitration decision.

It's extremely tough for public figures to successfully bring defamation cases. They have to prove not only the falsity of statements made, but also malice. Miller's statements made to the NCAA were not even published by him. He had zero control over the publication and release. He wasn't trashing Ollie on an internet blog of his own creation, or anything like that. For example, how does Ollie prove that Miller's statements about what his wife told him were false? If it's what she said he's just repeating hearsay. He doesn't say whether any of it is true or false, just what his wife told him about something.

 

[freescooter]

I seriously hope aren’t painting me as a “Ollie never should have been fired” because if you are then I guess you have failed to see any of my posts on that subject.

FD no way are you an Ollieistas.

 

[businesslawyer]

Serious question: Does UConn need to show that "just cause" was the sole cause for firing or just that "just cause" for firing existed?

I believe it depends on the language of the contract. Normally, to avoid severance you have to fire for just cause. If it exists but the jury doesn't believe that's why you fired him, I think the employee wins.

 

[krinklecut]

There's been a lot of talk about how this feels scummy and how it'll ruin, or at least damage, our reputation.

I don't get that. It might not look great for future coaches, but for the next hopefully long while, we don't have to worry about that. If we can get $10m back, great.

Who it does help our reputation with, however, is the NCAA. We're at a point now where the FBI is involved in NCAA violations, and there's going to be a lot of hell to pay for a lot of stuff,and the writing is on the wall that the NCAA is going to get even worse and really start cracking down on BS. To have a reputation with them that's "we take the stuff seriously" I just don't have a problem with that.

I don't know if KO deserves the money or not. I believe he should have been fired, and I'm not qualified to say what I think he does or does not deserve. At the end of the day his contract had pretty clear terms. If he violated those terms, see yah. If he didn't, pay the man.

I'm not worried about the rest; about our reputation and how this makes us look. This is getting coverage because it's baseball season.