Kevin Ollie’s lawyers ask for depositions from NCAA president Mark Emmert and national search firm as contract dispute with UConn

[Husky68]

Keep plugg'n Kevin. Be worth it to hear what UConn and Emmert discussed and what the search firm was told. UConn wanted to play hardball, hardball is what they're getting.

 

[huskyrob1]

That’s just not true. That team got smashed by Louisville twice at the end of the season and should have lost in the first round of the dance. He turned them around and never stopped pushing his guys. I wish he would just go away....but he did an awesome job his first two seasons.

Couldn't disagree more. Calhoun was a part of the team even then, was in his office everyday, and don't forget the assistant coaches, Glen Miller, Ricky Moore and Karl Hobbs. As a game coach I'll give him a passing grade, but as a teacher he stunk up the joint. Some players, and players parents especially, hated him, not to mention Miller too. Chris Daily could have coached the men's team and still won in 2014, and as a recruiter on his own, Ollie had trouble getting all of his top targets, even as the reigning national champion.

 

[Chief00]

UConn *doesnt have to pay him because of violations

In terms of damages does it really matter why he was fired, since the NCAA wouldn’t let him coach college games anyways?
There’s no way he could perform his contract obligations, since he couldn’t coach, oversee practices or recruit. In a sense, everything else is moot.
As for the deposition, I think, I recall he did one for the NCAA, although they may call it an interview. UConn could do a much broader deposition that likely would open up subjects not currently in the record. Maybe there’s need to wait until the arbitration is over, if the lawsuit remains, but why UConn agreed to this arbitrator who is allowing arbitration to drag out for years, doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in our squad.

 

[Chief00]

Couldn't disagree more. Calhoun was a part of the team even then, was in his office everyday, and don't forget the assistant coaches, Glen Miller, Ricky Moore and Karl Hobbs. As a game coach I'll give him a passing grade, but as a teacher he stunk up the joint. Some players, and players parents especially, hated him, not to mention Miller too. Chris Daily could have coached the men's team and still won in 2014, and as a recruiter on his own, Ollie had trouble getting all of his top targets, even as the reigning national champion.

Kevin, loss his focus and did not put the work in. He had a good thing going but he thought Calhoun was getting too much credit for his success. So he kicked Calhoun out of practices and listening to his counsel - and the downhill descent began, further turbo charged by personal issues. KO would have been so much better off sharing some credit and keeping that old MF*er around. He would still be making $3.5 million a year.

 

[UofCT]

Keep plugg'n Kevin. Be worth it to hear what UConn and Emmert discussed and what the search firm was told. UConn wanted to play hardball, hardball is what they're getting.

I don't see this as hardball for UConn. They are going through the motions and clearly not settling. This is not negatively impacting recruiting, scheduling, or performance for the program. The only people getting excited about this type of news are the Syracuse media.

Ollie on the other hand is wasting time. The longer he goes without coaching the harder it will be to get a job and the longer this goes on the more money he is draining. That's on him and quite frankly its sad to watch.

 

[BlueDogs]

He was fired because of performance, UConn is trying not to pay him because of violations

Doing a crappy job such that it becomes a defensive shield hardly makes any sense. Basically, he’s arguing I was really fired for doing a piss poor job, and they used violations as a pretext. The problem is violations occurred, so pretext doesn’t matter. The sole exception is if there was discriminatory intent, which, under our whacky system, takes what is plainly legal on its face and flips it on its head with suspect classes. Thus, the discrimination claim. The fact that he was black when he was hired does not prove non-discrimination after the fact. These are abusive and desperate maneuvers designed, as someone else noted, to protract the process, drive up costs, and create larger liability exposure (treble damages, recovery of attorney’s fees) to force UConn to capitulate. KO should have settled for a few million long ago. The most the university would ever pay is perhaps $1 to 2 Million, maybe a little more in a structured settlement. Good counsel would have gotten him maybe 500k a year paid out over 5 years long ago, or perhaps $1Million up front and the rest scheduled out.

 

[Husky68]

I don't see this as hardball for UConn. They are going through the motions and clearly not settling. This is not negatively impacting recruiting, scheduling, or performance for the program. The only people getting excited about this type of news are the Syracuse media.

Ollie on the other hand is wasting time. The longer he goes without coaching the harder it will be to get a job and the longer this goes on the more money he is draining. That's on him and quite frankly its sad to watch.

So having a coach who performs poorly and looking at the contract and discussing "Ollie is doing a crappy job coaching and we need to get rid of him, can we use anything in the contract to get rid of him and not pay" and coming to the violations as a way to me is playing hardball.
If you are saying that if Ollie got UConn to the elite 8 in his last year UConn would have taken the same course of action then I don't agree. He was fired for being a poor coach and the NCAA issues were just a way to get it done without paying him.
So you're saying that it's no big deal to UConn that this is going on, I'm sure it's not helping with basketball alumni relations and since it isn't over yet we will see what comes out in the end. How much do you think it has cost UConn in legal fees so far and lost donations from basketball alumni?
Part of the best and worst of US legal system is you can sue for all kinds of real and perceived wrongs and the other party needs to respond (and pay whatever that costs). Ollies BATNA is keep the pressure on.

 

[Zissou]

He was fired because of performance, UConn is trying not to pay him because of violations

This statement gets to the heart of the matter. I think most perceive this to be true.

Further, there is an appearance that UConn worked with the NCAA to build the cause case, for their own self interest not to pay Kevin. The result was a hand slap an the program but valuable leverage in a case to not pay Kevin. Getting the NCAA account of those communications into the record could be interesting.

This can only be finally assessed when it is done. For now not settling on both sides seems like a reckless all-or-nothing gamble. IMO UConn should have settled at an 80% payout. UConn dug in a low ball number, and Kevin dug in not to accept.

The “bad press” is real, but it is honestly limited. It leaves the impression lingering of a slightly corrupt program, and a slightly inept management. The outcome will spin the perception further. A spilt decision keeps that status quo. If Kevin shows unequal treatment in a protected class, or collusion between the program and the NCAA, and wins, then it’s a big black eye for UConn. If UConn scores a complete victory then Goliath beat David and only a little stain remains.

Pitt pulled the same charade in firing Stallings. They smeared him and eventually settled. Low class.

Wake just fired Manning for performance. My guess is they pay the man, and just accept their financial responsibility.

Someone signed up Kevin for a term longer than they later desired. Most believe that if Kevin made final fours in his last 2 years then he would not have been fired. One of UConn’s perception challenges is this point that seems obvious. Kevin was fired for performance. UConn is not paying him because they think the cause claim can allow them not to pay him. Maybe UConn is right. We’ll see. Paying 80% would have allowed a quick and clean end without the remaining risk.

UConn has taken legal stands before, like suing BC. Sometimes diplomacy is a better path.

 

[mauconnfan]

Couldn't disagree more. Calhoun was a part of the team even then, was in his office everyday, and don't forget the assistant coaches, Glen Miller, Ricky Moore and Karl Hobbs. As a game coach I'll give him a passing grade, but as a teacher he stunk up the joint. Some players, and players parents especially, hated him, not to mention Miller too. Chris Daily could have coached the men's team and still won in 2014, and as a recruiter on his own, Ollie had trouble getting all of his top targets, even as the reigning national champion.

This is the dumbest post in this thread so if you were going for that well done! Chris Dailey even being mentioned shows complete ignorance.

The guys that led the Huskies to the title were hardly part of JC's teams minus Shabazz. Daniels got better, Giffey much more impact, Boat was better, Nolan was a piece as were others under KO. Kromah was a solid pick up/player off the bench used nicely, Brimah was a piece as was Samuel at key times. Bazz was better his last 2 years under KO after a sophomore season in which he had trouble leading (team was a pain though not all on him but he whined too), certainly became a better leader under KO. The only reason anyone would say just a "passing grade" is pure hatred for the man for how he finished. Otherwise you're just blind to the really good job he did for 2-3 years. After that throw all the rubbage you want at the man it's well deserved, but give him his due.

 

[CL82]

So having a coach who performs poorly and looking at the contract and discussing "Ollie is doing a crappy job coaching and we need to get rid of him, can we use anything in the contract to get rid of him and not pay" and coming to the violations as a way to me is playing hardball.
If you are saying that if Ollie got UConn to the elite 8 in his last year UConn would have taken the same course of action then I don't agree. He was fired for being a poor coach and the NCAA issues were just a way to get it done without paying him.
So you're saying that it's no big deal to UConn that this is going on, I'm sure it's not helping with basketball alumni relations and since it isn't over yet we will see what comes out in the end. How much do you think it has cost UConn in legal fees so far and lost donations from basketball alumni?
Part of the best and worst of US legal system is you can sue for all kinds of real and perceived wrongs and the other party needs to respond (and pay whatever that costs). Ollies BATNA is keep the pressure on.

I think the analysis is more like this:

Employee X is a bad employee and is not meeting their objectives. Employer discovers that employee X not only is a poor employee, but also has been breaking outside regulations which could cause the business to be sanctioned. Employer then finds out that employee X has been lying to them about these violations and then finds out that employee X has also been lying to regulatory authorities who sanction both employee X and the business.

Employee X gets fired 10 times out of 10, regardless of the business.

The suggestion that the University of Connecticut has done something wrong in following exactly this pattern seems like a pretty big stretch, don’t you think? The notion that employee X wants to be paid in full for not working, after performing so poorly and jeopardizing the business seems ridiculous, don’t you think?

 

[superjohn]

Kevin, loss his focus and did not put the work in. He had a good thing going but he thought Calhoun was getting too much credit for his success. So he kicked Calhoun out of practices and listening to his counsel - and the downhill descent began, further turbo charged by personal issues. KO would have been so much better off sharing some credit and keeping that old MF*er around. He would still be making $3.5 million a year.

That's what's always been so crazy to me in all of this. Not only is it incredibly s****y to push away your mentor who gave you the job and taught you everything you know but the arrogance of not wanting to lean on and learn from arguably ths greatest college coach ever is just unbelievable.

 

[Zissou]

I think the analysis is more like this:

Employee X is a bad employee and is not meeting their objectives. Employer discovers that employee X not only is a poor employee, but also has been breaking outside regulations which could cause the business to be sanctioned. Employer then finds out that employee X has been lying to them about these violations and then finds out that employee X has also been lying to regulatory authorities who sanction both employee X and the business.

Employee X gets fired 10 times out of 10, regardless of the business.

The suggestion that the University of Connecticut has done something wrong in following exactly this pattern seems like a pretty big stretch, don’t you think? The notion that employee X wants to be paid in full for not working, after performing so poorly and jeopardizing the business seems ridiculous, don’t you think?

Will Wade, Sean Miller... we could make a long list of cheating coaches that don’t get fired.

10 times out of 10 times is not correct. Also in non-sports business.

 

[Peacefrog]

Will Wade, Sean Miller... we could make a long list of cheating coaches that don’t get fired.

10 times out of 10 times is not correct. Also in non-sports business.

Those two were meeting their working objectives to a large extent. As many have pointed out, Ollie is probably still around if he was still doing his job and minimally meeting objectives. Bad analogy.

 

[Chief00]

That's what's always been so crazy to me in all of this. Not only is it incredibly s****y to push away your mentor who gave you the job and taught you everything you know but the arrogance of not wanting to lean on and learn from arguably ths greatest college coach ever is just unbelievable.

I think calling Larry Brown to Storrs to observe the team/game was the final slap in the face to Jim Calhoun. When you have, I would argue, a better resource in-house, why do that in such a public way?

 

[Ts5034]

Couldn't disagree more. Calhoun was a part of the team even then, was in his office everyday, and don't forget the assistant coaches, Glen Miller, Ricky Moore and Karl Hobbs. As a game coach I'll give him a passing grade, but as a teacher he stunk up the joint. Some players, and players parents especially, hated him, not to mention Miller too. Chris Daily could have coached the men's team and still won in 2014, and as a recruiter on his own, Ollie had trouble getting all of his top targets, even as the reigning national champion.

Winning the National Championship with the 2014 team was no easy task. Keep in mind, KO went up against Phil Martelli, Jay Wright, Tom Izzo, Billy Donovan, and John Calipari on his way to winning the Championship. That is impressive when you think about it considering those are hall of fame or soon to be hall of fame coaches. Its just a shame what happened from that point on. We all thought our success with recruiting and winning was going to take off like a rocket. That obviously was not the case.

 

[CL82]

Will Wade, Sean Miller... we could make a long list of cheating coaches that don’t get fired.

10 times out of 10 times is not correct. Also in non-sports business.

9.999 times out of 10? Note that there were five elements. 1), being a bad employee, 2) breaking rules, 3) lying to your employer about it, 4) lying to an outside regulating authority, and 5) having both the employee and the entity be punished for it. Do you know what? I think I’ll go back to my original 10 times out of 10. It is egregious conduct that would inevitably move an employer to action.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

It looks as if they're making a couple arguments:
1. The hiring of Hurley was in the works prior to Ollie's termination; and
2. Calhoun made the same type transgressions and he wasn't fired because he was white.

We don't know when Hurley's hiring process began and if it was started before Ollie was fired.

As to Calhoun skating for the same type violations, that could be true, but he may not have been in violation of the terms of his contract. As I recall, coaching contracts were strengthened as a result of some of the violations that occurred under Calhoun and the new contracts (including Ollie's) include tougher standards of conduct and harsher penalties for violations.

The Key here is which contract takes takes precedence.
Under a union contract if someone if fired for a violation that they can prove was routinely overlooked in the past ( it’s called past practice ) than 99.9% of the times the company will lose. Everyone is equal under a Union Contract that’s the chief reason for a union.
It is unusual to say the least for an employee with a personal contract to be covered under a union contract.

 

[Dean Wormer]

I disagree. NOBODY cares. When UConn is brought up on the national scene, no one is talking about this situation. the conversations about UConn are centered around the Big East, Hurley, James Bouknight, and our return to prominence. Again, NOBODY cares. Ollie is the one who's taken the perception hit. He'll never get a major coaching opportunity in the NCAA ever again

Honestly, I’m a lot more concerned by the rift this has bought about with our basketball alums like Ray, Caron, and Rudy, then I do about the ignorant Cuse or Rutgers fan shooting off at the mouth.
This situation HAS caused some bad feelings and that’s a shame. I think it does taint and put a cloud over the program internally. And I think it would’ve been worth it to settle with KO early, to avoid that happening.

 

[CL82]

Honestly, I’m a lot more concerned by the rift this has bought about with our basketball alums like Ray, Caron, and Rudy, then I do about the ignorant Cuse or Rutgers fan shooting off at the mouth.
This situation HAS caused some bad feelings and that’s a shame. I think it does taint and put a cloud over the program internally. And I think it would’ve been worth it to settle with KO early, to avoid that happening.

It is a shame that Kevin is working so hard to alienate our other alums from the university. It is unforgivable, really. From what I've read from Caron, he will hold off on coming back to the university while the KO thing is done. After that? We'll see.

It's been reported that KO got a offer to settle in the 2-3M range. It was very foolish not to accept that and then go on a scorched earth campaign threaten to smear the guy he who got him the job and who Kevin referred to as a second father. Kevin has made a lot of questionable choices that cost him his job, has marriage, friends and long time mentor/father figure. It is sad. Hopefully he realize that fault is no one's but his own. That will be the first step to getting his life back together.

 

[Umami Zen]

Honestly, I’m a lot more concerned by the rift this has bought about with our basketball alums like Ray, Caron, and Rudy, then I do about the ignorant Cuse or Rutgers fan shooting off at the mouth.
This situation HAS caused some bad feelings and that’s a shame. I think it does taint and put a cloud over the program internally. And I think it would’ve been worth it to settle with KO early, to avoid that happening.

DH ..to his credit..seems to be trying to re-open channels/dialogues with our BB Alums..Other schools harvest substantial benefits from their boosters and alums for their athletic programs.. Why can't UConn as well?? Some of our more recent NBA alums seem to be coming around again.. Will be interesting to see how the NCAA announcement on Friday affects recruiting vs P5/SEC schools in future.. If approved.. Would allow NCAA athletes to have business relationships with boosters re: NIL..Names..Images.. Likenesses.. while playing Ball. If we can resolve the KO situation sooner rather later.. Would allow DH much more flexibility when competing vs Bag Men at other schools.. Have you noticed how often we are always competing vs SEC BB schools for recruits?

 

[Tenspro2002]

Honestly, I’m a lot more concerned by the rift this has bought about with our basketball alums like Ray, Caron, and Rudy, then I do about the ignorant Cuse or Rutgers fan shooting off at the mouth.
This situation HAS caused some bad feelings and that’s a shame. I think it does taint and put a cloud over the program internally. And I think it would’ve been worth it to settle with KO early, to avoid that happening.

I just don't understand the alums here.

They should be more pissed at KO for how he treated JC and embarrassed the university. What do any of them owe KO?

 

[Zissou]

It's been reported that KO got a offer to settle in the 2-3M range. It was very foolish not to accept that and then go on a scorched earth campaign ...

That is a very low low ball. 80% of contract should have gotten the settlement done and saved the university a few mil.

both sides have gone scorched earth. It benefits neither.

 

[CL82]

That is a very low low ball. 80% of contract should have gotten the settlement done and saved the university a few mil.

both sides have gone scorched earth. It benefits neither.

80% of the contract? And what pray tell are you basing that on? How would paying $8.8M that it does not owe save the university millions? How, exactly,has the university "gone scorched earth"?

 

[Zissou]

Those two were meeting their working objectives to a large extent. As many have pointed out, Ollie is probably still around if he was still doing his job and minimally meeting objectives. Bad analogy.

this is a key point in favor of Kevin. Most agree with you that he was fired for performance

 

[CL82]

Those two were meeting their working objectives to a large extent. As many have pointed out, Ollie is probably still around if he was still doing his job and minimally meeting objectives. Bad analogy.

Uh since the NCAA gave a three year show cause to Ollie, I think we can be fairly confident that he wouldn't be the coach of UConn regardless of his record.