Back in 1996, Central Connecticut went through a somewhat similar contract situation when then Athletic Director C.J. Jones "fired" Head Coach Mark Adams and hired his best friend Howie Dickenman.
CCSU coaches are covered by union contracts and when you are broke as an institution, like UConn is now, it isn't easy to just buy out contracts and make people them go away.
Flap Leaves Bad Taste At Central
May 21, 1996|By JEFF JACOBS; Courant Sports Columnist
NEW BRITAIN — More than 50 blue Cookie Monsters, in various shapes and sizes, fill the office of Central Connecticut athletic director C.J. Jones.
``All because I love chocolate chip cookies so much,'' said Jones, thumbing a giant cookie lamp.
But after thumbing through litigation and union grievances, one would conclude there are some folks around the New Britain campus who think Jones should be mentioned in the same breath as a much different Sesame Street character.
Oscar The Grouch.
When I first heard in April that Howie Dickenman would be named basketball coach at Central, my reaction could be captured in two words: perfect fit.
After spending the better part of a 95-degree afternoon with Jones and Dickenman, my reaction still could be captured in two words: perfect fit.
``When I started getting interested, you know who grilled me the hardest?'' Dickenman said Monday. ``My daughter Erica, who's a sophomore at Central. She goes, `Why? Nobody really cares about basketball at Central.' ''
But Dickenman and Jones remember a much different time. A time when the Blue Devils, a Division II powerhouse, used to regularly fill Kaiser Hall. A time when Dickenman, an All-American and the first in school history to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds, was a hero in New Britain. A time when the name Bill Detrick meant almost as much as Stanley Works in this hardware town.
A time that could return some magical winter night.
Maybe it was a mistake for Central to go Division I a decade ago.
Maybe it wasn't.
But if Central is to grab one of those Stanley hammers and nail its mark on the sport again, the great majority of the 38,000 alumni scattered throughout the state surely must believe Dickenman should do the pounding.
Central guys are running Central sports again. And Dickenman, who had his share of the national spotlight working under Jim Calhoun at UConn, is a Central guy.
``I have tremendous respect for Howie Dickenman both as a person and as a basketball coach,'' said Mark Adams, the former or present Central coach, depending on your view of the world. ``But the fact is I have a valid contract that runs through August 1997 and it is up to me to care for my family.
``I never resigned as coach. As far as I'm concerned, I'm still the coach at Central Connecticut.''
I'm still the coach at Central Connecticut.
I read that quote last week in the New Britain Herald and it spooked me. Adams repeated it Monday night. And guess what? It spooked me again.
What's Adams going to do? Shadow Howie up and down the bench next year? If Howie pulls Keith Closs out of the game, does Adams start shouting, ``No! No! No! Get back in there!''?
People in Division I sports with time remaining on their contract get fired all the time. They accept a buyout or they accept a reassignment and move on when the time is ripe.
It is baffling why it has not worked out this way at Central Connecticut.
The Central alums you talk to are excited about the Dickenman hire. Dickenman and Jones say their biggest fear is over-expectation. ``Hey, we're not going to be Top 20 next year,'' Jones said, laughing.
But what do you find in your mailbox? A biting newsletter article by Larry Glenn, president of the Central chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Glenn accuses Central of moving ``to center stage as the archetype of managerial arrogance, duplicity and general all-around stupidity.'' He also promises that if management cannot see the error of its ways, union negotiations next year will be long and painful.
Glenn said Central ignored the the length of Adams' contract and that his assignment could be modified only with the union member's assent. Glenn also said the new assignment was for Adams to ``stay home.'' Central management, according to Glenn, told the union the hiring was an emergency appointment, but the union said the emergency was created only because the position was vacant.
The union also called the move ``cronyism'' because Jones and Dickenman are longtime friends and Dickenman was Jones' best man at his wedding Aug. 16, 1974.
Adams' attorney, Ted Pappas, told The Courant that Adams, whose job paid about $70,000 a year, refused assignment to a teaching/research position.
``Where is this authority [to reassign]?'' Pappas said.
``In the union contract,'' Jones said Monday.
And this is why a court case is scheduled for June 24.
Let's be honest. Jones is the AD and he wants Dickenman to coach the flagship team of the Central sports world. For Adams, this is unfortunate, because Central has improved. But hirings and firings are a fact of life at this level. And landing Dickenman is a plum for C.J.
Jones said Adams glared at him twice during a humiliating loss to UConn last winter. Adams didn't want to play the game. Jones did. There was tension since the day C.J. took over last summer and this exacerbated the problem.
``He says he doesn't remember the glares. I do,'' Jones said. ``I remember a time when UConn didn't want to play us back in the 1960s. I want our school to play the best and challenge ourselves. Our team was neither prepared emotionally or physically that game. We were completely embarrassed.''
Dickenman said he got a phone call from Closs' mom Friday.
``She told me Keith's committed to returning next season,'' Dickenman said.
There have been rumors Closs, the 7-foot-3 center who led the nation in blocked shots, is transferring. Closs is close to Adams and assistant Mark Borgeson, and there are whispers of them going as some kind of package deal. Closs would be wise to stay. Dickenman wants Closs to lead the nation in rebounding, too.
Adams, who says in his complaint he was locked out of his office and threatened with immediate dismissal if he talked to his players with respect to his or their future, said he hasn't talked to Closs in several weeks.
``I miss my players,'' Adams said.
The truth is a buyout in the $85,000 range could take care of this mess. It should not drag out any longer. It's not fair to the grand memory of Central basketball.
