Kevin Ollie is still screwed

[JimHurley]

I live in Glastonbury where he lives (or lived, I'm not sure if he's still here). I didn't know him...he surely didn't know my name...but in maybe five or six interactions with/around him, he seemed like such a class act. Example one...his son worked at a supermarket and more than once, I'd see the kid out sweeping the parking lot. I don't know the backstory, but obviously in one form or another there was a work ethic and a respect for the dollar passed along because the kid didn't need to be out there making $10/hour or whatever.

Example two, another kid of his had an injured ankle/foot and missed the rest of the soccer season. Ollie STILL showed up for at least some of those games and cheered the team on as if his kid was on the field.

Went out of his way at least twice to walk by and tap my then 7 or 8 yo son on the head as he walked by...giving my son a thrill.

Just a shame...don't understand his approach to this.

Agree on all this. I think at his core he’s a really good guy. Was always super nice any time fans would interact with him. He came from a real tough upbringing, worked his butt off his whole career, then dropped the ball after the NC. Shame is the correct word. I rooted for him so hard. But he really blew it here. I don’t wish bad on him in any way, but it’s time to move on KO.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Maybe he moved from Glastonbury to ......,
South Side Hartford

 

[CL82]

It’s real. From his Instagram story with a time stamp from around when this news broke.

Wow.

 

[huskyrob1]

Totally agree with @LStudfellow. It is incredibly sad. Scorched earth is right. He is also correct - never say never, but the chances of Ollie ever landing any type of job related to basketball is slim to none at this time.

I think Ollie probably knew that going in, or if he didn't he should have, but I think he felt that it was worth the risk... He probably thought if he could get several millions of $ out of the university (more than if he settled), it would have held him over financially till this became a distant memory and he was able to get a new job.

Instead, he's burnt every bridge related to UCONN, destroyed any goodwill from the fans, and created a scenario where his future prospects look bleak. Even worse now, the NCAA has rejected every argument he made which makes him look even worse, if that's possible.

Wouldn't be surprised to see him flipping burgers at McDonalds or something in the near future, unless he has enough savings to live off. And with all his legal fees, I doubt he has much savings left. I want to say I feel badly for the guy, but this is a mess of his own making.

I don't think we'll see him flipping burgers, but maybe some appearances in Monaco Ford commercials.

 

[Buffett10]

I live in Glastonbury where he lives (or lived, I'm not sure if he's still here). I didn't know him...he surely didn't know my name...but in maybe five or six interactions with/around him, he seemed like such a class act. Example one...his son worked at a supermarket and more than once, I'd see the kid out sweeping the parking lot. I don't know the backstory, but obviously in one form or another there was a work ethic and a respect for the dollar passed along because the kid didn't need to be out there making $10/hour or whatever.

Example two, another kid of his had an injured ankle/foot and missed the rest of the soccer season. Ollie STILL showed up for at least some of those games and cheered the team on as if his kid was on the field.

Went out of his way at least twice to walk by and tap my then 7 or 8 yo son on the head as he walked by...giving my son a thrill.

Just a shame...don't understand his approach to this.

He still lives in Glastonbury.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

The "scorched earth" policy KO has followed (at least partly due to the advice of his lawyers, but ultimately of his own doing) has done so much more damage to him than if he had just settled.

Yes, having to put your ego aside to make a deal you believe is unfair sucks. But now you see that the alternative can be so much worse. If he had just left and taken whatever deal was on the table, he would have been able to walk into an assistant's job in the NBA and been looking at a Head Coaching job in the not-too-distant future. Now? Maybe still possible (I've learned to almost never say never), but the chances are much less than before. Much less.

One of the saddest chapters to watch evolve during my 35 years as a UConn fan. Only the Tate George saga has made me close to this sad. And its not even over. I just wish someone could step in and tell him to cut bait, move on, and start to rehabilitate his image. At some point, it will matter...

Eric Hayward's latter behavior was not good either.

 

[djct1999]

It’s real. From his Instagram story with a time stamp from around when this news broke.

Damn. He should have taken his own advice, kept his head up, and counted his blessings. I recently rewatched his introductory presser the other day. It’s astounding to me how inspirational that KO was and now how tone deaf this KO is. It really is like two entirely different people.

 

[djct1999]

I live in Glastonbury where he lives (or lived, I'm not sure if he's still here). I didn't know him...he surely didn't know my name...but in maybe five or six interactions with/around him, he seemed like such a class act. Example one...his son worked at a supermarket and more than once, I'd see the kid out sweeping the parking lot. I don't know the backstory, but obviously in one form or another there was a work ethic and a respect for the dollar passed along because the kid didn't need to be out there making $10/hour or whatever.

Example two, another kid of his had an injured ankle/foot and missed the rest of the soccer season. Ollie STILL showed up for at least some of those games and cheered the team on as if his kid was on the field.

Went out of his way at least twice to walk by and tap my then 7 or 8 yo son on the head as he walked by...giving my son a thrill.

Just a shame...don't understand his approach to this.

I miss that KO.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Calling it now. Kevin Ollie will be the head coach at Tulane in no more than 3 years. How many big name coaches had puttered away after big time violations only to resurface in the AAC? Tubby Smith, Frank Haith, Larry Brown, Kelvin Sampson etc. Add KO to that list. Plus, the seafood in NOLA is to die for.

 

[Deepster]

All the talk about his millions from the NBA or from coaching? Let's not forget. He got divorced.

Kiss half of that goodbye.

 

[HCCForever]

I miss that KO.

It really is too bad. My only interaction with him was the fall of 1994 which I think was his senior year. I was working part time at Dick's Sporting Goods in Manchester as a cashier. Not a bad gig as I watched a lot of hoop when there were no customers. Both the men's and women's teams would come in. I was getting ready to ring up his order when some snafu occurred at the register with the head cashier who didn't have a clue who he was. He could have been a jerk about it but just waited patiently until the situation was resolved.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

View attachment 54011

Whelp, it's become obvious that Kevin Ollie is completely out to lunch.

I never thought I'd reach the point where reading updates on the case would be a guaranteed cringe. This is tragic.

 

[tentoes4rings]

As much joy as it brought us, winning a National Championship in his 2nd season was probably the worst thing to happen to KO. We don’t need to get into the details, but seems he made a few really bad decisions soon afterwards and was never the same again. The guy we saw from 11-14 was awesome and made me so proud to be a Husky fan.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Also, that statement from the lawyer in response to the ruling... Let me remember this guy's name so I can recommend him to people I'm about to sue.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Dumb, dumb, dumb. UConn gave Florida 2 of their 3 losses that season, they went undefeated in the SEC and were the #1 overall seed for the tournament. Ollie went through Martelli, Jay Wright, Hoiberg, Izzo, Donovan, and Calipari in that tournament.

Yeah, there's a lot to knock KO for, but he absolutely deserves credit for that 2014 run.

His problem was when it came to bringing in his own recruits, he was terrible at identifying talented, tough, intelligent players and getting them to put in the work to improve their game.

 

[tuvent08]

Also, that statement from the lawyer in response to the ruling... Let me remember this guy's name so I can recommend him to people I'm about to sue.

 

[freescooter]

Well let’s crap on Kembas run then too. People are so screwed up it’s hilarious. Hardly a run by any winner where luck doesn’t play a part ask Tyus Edney.

No doubt about it. I always thought UConn could have beaten every team in that tourney except UCLA. Edney doesn’t go coast to coast in the Sweet 16 we probably have 5 banners.

 

[Deepster]

When the Calhoun Celebrity games started and KO was still playing, for Cleveland or Philly (I believe), he turned down complimentary airfare to come up for the game and drove his own car to get here for it. Because he knew the plane ticket and limo transfer came out of the charity fund.

I can tell you of 2 players, that i know of, that not only took the plane/limo offer but had their wives, family, friends lumped in too. One player made them have a town car service on hand for the weekend in case his wife or family wanted to leave the casino and go visit people in CT.

 

[djct1999]

Yeah, there's a lot to knock KO for, but he absolutely deserves credit for that 2014 run.

His problem was when it came to bringing in his own recruits, he was terrible at identifying talented, tough, intelligent players and getting them to put in the work to improve their game.

So true. Truth is, at that time there wasn’t another coach in the world who could have handled the transition any better. He said and did everything right. Because if that, this version of KO is so much sadder.

 

[Watchdog]

So, if the lawyer didn't make the effort to submit any new or meaningful information, how does he justify his billings?
1. Call the decision "biased".
2. Claim the NCAA has repeatedly shown its #1 priority is to protect UConn.
3. Prepare statement (for future release) about the bias that was shown by the arbitrator after that decision is rendered.

The NCAA said the appeals committee upheld Ollie's punishment "because he included few or no arguments regarding overturning this penalty and failed to demonstrate that the Committee on Infractions abused its discretion by prescribing the penalty."

Ollie's attorney, Jacques Parenteau, issued a statement to ESPN after the ruling.

"While we are not surprised that the NCCA Infractions Appeals Committee would simply rubber stamp the original, biased decision, it is disgraceful this committee refused to consider the ample evidence produced by counsel for Kevin Ollie showing that witnesses had lied," he said.

"Throughout this process the NCAA has repeatedly demonstrated that its number one priority is to protect UConn, its member, and will eagerly do so at the expense of Kevin Ollie's rights

 

[CL82]

So, if the lawyer didn't make the effort to submit any new or meaningful information, how does he justify his billings?
1. Call the decision "biased".
2. Claim the NCAA has repeatedly shown its #1 priority is to protect UConn.
3. Prepare statement for future release about the bias that was shown by the arbitrator after that decision is rendered.

The NCAA said the appeals committee upheld Ollie's punishment "because he included few or no arguments regarding overturning this penalty and failed to demonstrate that the Committee on Infractions abused its discretion by prescribing the penalty."

Ollie's attorney, Jacques Parenteau, issued a statement to ESPN after the ruling.

"While we are not surprised that the NCCA Infractions Appeals Committee would simply rubber stamp the original, biased decision, it is disgraceful this committee refused to consider the ample evidence produced by counsel for Kevin Ollie showing that witnesses had lied," he said.

"Throughout this process the NCAA has repeatedly demonstrated that its number one priority is to protect UConn, its member, and will eagerly do so at the expense of Kevin Ollie's rights

This case has not been a good look for Parenteau.

 

[Kenny11]

This case has not been a good look for Parenteau.

Right. It doesn't seem so. I read his bio though and he has a strong history of getting his clients millions from universities, including from Yale and Trinity.

 

[Watchdog]

No doubt about it. I always thought UConn could have beaten every team in that tourney except UCLA. Edney doesn’t go coast to coast in the Sweet 16 we probably have 5 banners.

Maybe, but we should have had them in 06 and 09, but probably shouldn't have in 11 and 14. The way these tournaments sometimes play out is the "madness".

 

[ctchamps]

So, if the lawyer didn't make the effort to submit any new or meaningful information, how does he justify his billings?
1. Call the decision "biased".
2. Claim the NCAA has repeatedly shown its #1 priority is to protect UConn.
3. Prepare statement (for future release) about the bias that was shown by the arbitrator after that decision is rendered.

The NCAA said the appeals committee upheld Ollie's punishment "because he included few or no arguments regarding overturning this penalty and failed to demonstrate that the Committee on Infractions abused its discretion by prescribing the penalty."

Ollie's attorney, Jacques Parenteau, issued a statement to ESPN after the ruling.

"While we are not surprised that the NCCA Infractions Appeals Committee would simply rubber stamp the original, biased decision, it is disgraceful this committee refused to consider the ample evidence produced by counsel for Kevin Ollie showing that witnesses had lied," he said.

"Throughout this process the NCAA has repeatedly demonstrated that its number one priority is to protect UConn, its member, and will eagerly do so at the expense of Kevin Ollie's rights

All the lawyer has to do is visit The Boneyard to know that this is absolutely false. The NUMBER ONE priority for the NCAA is to screw UConn. You know, UConn you can’t. You ain’t aw shucks UNC.

 

[Huskybass]

I live in Glastonbury where he lives (or lived, I'm not sure if he's still here). I didn't know him...he surely didn't know my name...but in maybe five or six interactions with/around him, he seemed like such a class act. Example one...his son worked at a supermarket and more than once, I'd see the kid out sweeping the parking lot. I don't know the backstory, but obviously in one form or another there was a work ethic and a respect for the dollar passed along because the kid didn't need to be out there making $10/hour or whatever.

Example two, another kid of his had an injured ankle/foot and missed the rest of the soccer season. Ollie STILL showed up for at least some of those games and cheered the team on as if his kid was on the field.

Went out of his way at least twice to walk by and tap my then 7 or 8 yo son on the head as he walked by...giving my son a thrill.

Just a shame...don't understand his approach to this.

He was a different guy after 2014. You could see it in his demeanor and his body language.