KO - A tough spot to be in

[Chief00]

KO is in a tough spot. As another poster indicated yesterday, he has about $2.3 million of more payments to his ex wife, if the “for cause” sticks, how does he tell a judge to modify down rather than take from his other assets?

Not a good place to be in and given his life style not something that will make the negotiating easier. It will be very hard for KO to settle for $3 million when his ex would get 3/4ths of it

 

[djct1999]

KO is in a tough spot. As another poster indicated yesterday, he has about $2.3 million of more payments to his ex wife, if the “for cause” sticks, how does he tell a judge to modify down rather than take from his other assets?

Not a good place to be in and given his life style not something that will make the negotiating easier. It will be very hard for KO to settle for $3 million when his ex would get 3/4ths of it

We don't need to get into KOs personal life. Nor do I think he will be unemployed long. The divorce settlement will surely play itself out and is seperate from his divorce from UConn. Lets keep it to basketball Chief. Fortunately, most on here are experts in a lot of fields but divorce court without details is not one of them.

 

[willie99]

If he doesn't get paid, which I think he's getting more than some people might think, then a modification will be forthcoming

Can't get blood from a stone

Obviously his kids get hurt too, I would fight for my reputation and my kids

 

[willie99]

I find it somewhat astonishing that some people think he should walk away, this is about life 101

I'm not pulling for or against, I hope they reach a quick settlement in the best interest of all the parties involved, but you have to keep it real people



Not sure why I'm still surprised by the conclusions people reach on the WWW, guess I have too much faith in people still.

 

[Chief00]

We don't need to get into KOs personal life. Nor do I think he will be unemployed long. The divorce settlement will surely play itself out and is seperate from his divorce from UConn. Lets keep it to basketball Chief. Fortunately, most on here are experts in a lot of fields but divorce court without details is not one of them.

Quite frankly, in all due respect, wrong. It will impact negotiations in a material manner. These numbers are public record and the poster pulled them from The Hartford Courant almost 3 years ago. Given these numbers I think the floor for KO is $5-6 million and he would probably really want $7 million. It’s not going to be an easy negotiations given where both UConn and KO sit.

 

[HawkHusky]

Settle at $4-5 Mil and respectfully part ways.

 

[Chief00]

I think at $4.5 to $5.0 million they both could declare victory and move on.

 

[pj]

KO has to be sensible. A fight will cost him a few hundred k in legal fees, delay taking a job so maybe $300k in salary, plus reputational damage that will add up in the millions over the rest of his career. And how much more will he extract from UConn by fighting? Maybe he increases the settlement from $2 mn to $3 mn, which after taxes is no improvement given the costs.

Meanwhile, if UConn has real NCAA violations it can pull out, and surely they do, needn't pay $5 mn. Because if the fight goes all the way UConn pays zero.

 

[Pudge]

Zero?

You simply don’t know. You never want to be on the other side of a University or institution; but, Ollie - not knowing the “just cause” vague charge - has a contract with a buyout. UConn, also, doesn’t want to be the one CBB school who wipes out a coach.

This will settle. I suspect Benedict’s first conversation with Ollie wasn’t positive. Ollie will understand his stakes.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I think at $4.5 to $5.0 million they both could declare victory and move on.

Chief this thread is a bad look.

 

[mauconnfan]

There's a difference between "mailing it in" and maybe falling off the requirements. Not sure you know he mailed it in either and highly doubt it.

But keep kicking it's very impressive.

 

[JMick]

There's a difference between "mailing it in" and maybe falling off the requirements. Not sure you know he mailed it in either and highly doubt it.

But keep kicking it's very impressive.

No, he mailed it in. There's absolutely no question about that.

 

[mauconnfan]

No, he mailed it in. There's absolutely no question about that.

I doubt that but I'd like to hear how for sure sometime. I question the rumors no doubt although don't doubt he lost the wheel and maybe didn't hit the road as much as he should have. I mean no doubt having a pulse on recruiting and alike is his job but that doesn't point to mailing it in. Different intent with that statement - you're telling me he didn't give a rats butt about the program anymore right?

 

[Huskybass]

Unfortunately, KO was in over his head from day 1. Fortunately (or unfortunately) he was surrounded by people like Blaney, Hobbs, Miller, Napier, Boatright, Daniels, Giffey, Kromah etc. for the first few years. Their presence masked the true level of his competency. The winning % in KO's first two years was .743. Fast forward to the last two years and the winning % is .461. Given KO's inexperience and lack of ability to run a D1 program (which is a huge multi-faceted job) it was inevitable that it wouldn't end well.

I truly wish KO well. I just hope that both sides get on the same page sooner rather than later and reach a quick, equitable resolution.

 

[methodology]

KO has to be sensible. A fight will cost him a few hundred k in legal fees, delay taking a job so maybe $300k in salary, plus reputational damage that will add up in the millions over the rest of his career. And how much more will he extract from UConn by fighting? Maybe he increases the settlement from $2 mn to $3 mn, which after taxes is no improvement given the costs.

Meanwhile, if UConn has real NCAA violations it can pull out, and surely they do, needn't pay $5 mn. Because if the fight goes all the way UConn pays zero.

Isn't the union representing him? They are paid with union dues; KO isn't footing the legal fees

 

[pj]

Isn't the union representing him? They are paid with union dues; KO isn't footing the legal fees

If you're seriously trying to win $10 million, you aren't going to farm out your legal defense to a union of university professors that isn't going to die on a hill for a basketball coach. KO will surely have his own representation.

 

[Chin Diesel]

He's going to make money in 2017. I expect as many others do that he winds up on an NBA bench. A settlement of $3-$5 million and a $500k assistant coach gig is plenty enough for him to wipe his past clean and move forward.

 

[mauconnfan]

It's the start to a wonderful cyber friendship when the name calling stops, I've mailed that approach in.

NO attention, NO effort, NO interest? Maybe he fell short of what he needed to do and that's awful for us to fathom, but thinking there was nothing in these areas is incorrect. He did a horrible job at a place we all love, but mailing it in he did not do. But again, that's just me and bottom line is no matter whether he did or didn't he's no longer our coach because he didn't win.

Next

 

[HuskyHawk]

There's a difference between "mailing it in" and maybe falling off the requirements. Not sure you know he mailed it in either and highly doubt it.

But keep kicking it's very impressive.

We are all speculating here, and I suppose that's dangerous. Did he "mail it in"? I don't think so. Did he give the level of effort needed or that he has provided previously? I don't think so. There have been many anecdotal bits of information that suggest that he simply isn't working as hard as he did early on as coach.

But I'm not going to focus on that, because regardless of whether he tried to do his best, his best wasn't good enough. He couldn't figure out which of his own players were good and would give the team a chance to win. His offense has all the sophistication of a playground pick-up team, and the defense isn't much better. His team started slow almost every game...and to me eyes, looked like they had little to no preparation for the opponent. They would leave good shooters open and guard guys who were not threats. Their adjustment to that in game, was painfully slow, if it every came.

UConn needs the buyout to be a small number. It can't worry about Kevin's well being in that regard. He had made a lot of money from UConn and the NBA, enough that, divorce or not, he shouldn't need to work. He's also very employable as a coach, presuming he doesn't let his reputation be harmed by a protracted fight here. Both sides should want this concluded quickly.

 

[mauconnfan]

Unfortunately, KO was in over his head from day 1. Fortunately (or unfortunately) he was surrounded by people like Blaney, Hobbs, Miller, Napier, Boatright, Daniels, Giffey, Kromah etc. for the first few years. Their presence masked the true level of his competency. The winning % in KO's first two years was .743. Fast forward to the last two years and the winning % is .461. Given KO's inexperience and lack of ability to run a D1 program (which is a huge multi-faceted job) it was inevitable that it wouldn't end well.

I truly wish KO well. I just hope that both sides get on the same page sooner rather than later and reach a quick, equitable resolution.

This is about the way I look at it. Looking back at it maybe he was never the guy, as a coach, we envisioned. But he was the right guy to motivate that team with the support and experience of Balney, Hobbsy and Miller. They wanted to play for him, they bought in to his career and how he succeeded with hard work to create the magic of the first 2 years. Thereafter he took one hand off the wheel and hit the cruise button and without Balney, Hobbs and Miller he found himself in a battle to prove himself. The results do not need to be rehashed we just need to thank him for what he did do as a player and the NC and move on. He didn't intend for it to happen instead he intended to prove to everyone he could put his own mark on the program, well that didn't work out so well for KO.

As bass said, thanks KO and best of luck in the future as we know there is one for you somewhere. He's fought hard to get as close to the top as he could, well it's time again for him to get up at 5am beat everyone to the gym, the next recruit or the film room.

 

[Baltic]

Settle at $4-5 Mil and respectfully part ways.

The AAUP process is for a hearing, at which time Benedict will have to divulge the information pertaining to dismissal for cause. After that it goes to arbitration. The Arbitrator decides for or against, no compromise.

During my career I had the unfortunate opportunity to be involved in a number of arbitration’s involving union employees in the private sector. If we decided to go to arbitration we would have overwhelming facts to support our case for action against the employee. Even with that certitude we would not prevail in a majority of cases. I would imagine that an Arbitration against a State Employee would even be more difficult hurdle to clear.

So it seems to me that prevailing in the arbitration will be extremely difficult, unless the evidence is particularly damning, and if it is would it rise to the level of significant NCAA violations.

Unfortunately what ever happens will have a negative impact on the University for the foreseeable future. Hopefully both parties can compromise and move on. I know I would be reluctant to leave $4 - $5 million on the table.

 

[jibsey]

KO is in a tough spot. As another poster indicated yesterday, he has about $2.3 million of more payments to his ex wife, if the “for cause” sticks, how does he tell a judge to modify down rather than take from his other assets?

Not a good place to be in and given his life style not something that will make the negotiating easier. It will be very hard for KO to settle for $3 million when his ex would get 3/4ths of it

A legal source, and I admit this is rumor, said that KO’s settlement with the wife was about $3 million. that might not include real estate or everything. His NBA career and coaching pretax earnings are over 30 million. it would be to his advantage to pay that out over time but it doesn’t appear that the divorce money would be a problem. His lifestyle is not extravagant to appearances. Once again this is speculation through someone who knew the lawyer who negotiated it. It makes sense for him to get ALL the money contracted to him if I were his current lawyer advising regardless of who owes what.

 

[UConnNick]

Isn't the union representing him? They are paid with union dues; KO isn't footing the legal fees

That's just for administrative proceedings. If he's forced to take this all the way, and he's committed to doing that, there's a lawsuit coming, with the considerable attorney's fees and court costs that will generate.

I don't quite understand why a guy who made NBA money for 13 seasons, and well over 10 million as a college coach for the past several seasons, is so financially destitute that he's got to have another five million to pay off his ex-wife. If he's in that much financial trouble, he either has the worst family lawyers, spends more than every dime he has, or some combination of both. If it's more the latter, it's hard to have a lot of sympathy for his plight. He's made far more money in his mid-40's than the average person earns in a lifetime. If he never figured out how to manage it, that's his responsibility, not UConn's. He has been treated very well by the university financially.