KO - Victim of discrimination and denied due process?

[Chief00]

(Also Chief, did we need another thread on this, not that I'm not here participating mind you, but did we?)

Quite frankly, probably not. However, the “new” angle was the context of how KO has benefited from how due process was denied and discrimination was used against others when KO got the job in the first place. So it’s interesting to me it was the root of him getting the job and if you are to believe his attorney’s narrative - in losing it. The same guy that got KO the job - KO is now saying received favorable treatment compared to him.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Just asking how long can this all go on is there a end date, court date or what. The positive news is how good Hurley is doing with all this background noise going on and how good he's going to do when all this goes away.

So far we have not signed one kid , I’m getting a little nervous.
If you think St John’s or anyone forthat matter isn’t usingthis mess to negatively recruit our prospects your a tad more trusting than I.

 

[Chief00]

So far we have not signed one kid , I’m getting a little nervous.
If you think St John’s or anyone forthat matter isn’t usingthis mess to negatively recruit our prospects your a tad more trusting than I.

Chris Mullins use negative recruiting against us? Of course he would.

 

[Chief00]

These are the facts Chief
KO only got a one year deal as interim. Actually the way things went down there was little opportunity to sign anything other than an interim . Yes he got his foot in the door but no more. If the the 2012-13 team proved to be a disaster like it was predicted than he would have never got a 3 year seal.
My personal opinion is Ward Manual never wanted him as I believe he wanted no one from the Calhoun era.
Ollie’s success got him the gig
He was so unexpectedly successful that George Blaney who retired after the 12-13 season said “I could retire with the knowledge the program is in good hands, Kevin Ollie is a superstar”
Please don’t attack me personally
ad hominems sre the refuge of the weak minded and a dialogue ender .
However please feel free to dispute my facts. I’m a historian by nature and I abore revisionism. I also stated my opinion on the AD’s preference , I don’t know for sure what the AD was thinking but he certainly dragged his feet in hiring KO.

He got the chance to coach a team on an interim basis that turned out to have national championship caliber talent on it. There’s a lot of guys who would jump at that opportunity. Agree JC wanted him more than Warde but then KO became friends with Warde.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

So far we have not signed one kid , I’m getting a little nervous.
If you think St John’s or anyone forthat matter isn’t usingthis mess to negatively. recruit our prospects your a tad more trusting than I.

Your expression of nervousness makes things worse. It feeds and waters something you don't want.

 

[Chief00]

Your expression of nervousness makes things worse. It feeds and waters something you don't want.

Chief is still sticking by his Chill like recruiting signal about the recent visits.

 

[Tenspro2002]

First, I would like to start with saying Glen Miller’s hearsay payoff testimony was a low blow and demonstrates poor character in Chief’s view. The University never should have released it.

Having said that, few have ever received such preferential treatment as a job applicant than Kevin Ollie. In truth, there were not even other applicants allowed to go through the process. He was handpicked by Calhoun and moved to the front of what would have been a long and prestigious line. There was no level playing field competition, it was an insiders deal.

Given all that, when I hear Kevin’s lawyer whining about discrimination and denial of due process, I think this wouldn’t have happened in the first place if those things hadn’t taken place in KO’s favor when he was hired.

And now they are attacking the man, who gave him such preferential treatment. Please stop!

Chief is just keeping it real!

The only discrimination on UConn's part was against a coach who was woefully inadequate at the job and in way over his head.

Horrible coaches are not a protected class, and the contract as written gives UConn wide leverage to invoke just cause at their discretion.

They chose to do so for KO and not for JC because KO was atrocious at his job, not because he's black, as is well within their right.

 

[Yardigan]

Chris Mullins use negative recruiting against us? Of course he would.

Pretty sure that's part of the job...? Would be dereliction of duty not to?

 

[superjohn]

Why does this board call him Chris Mullins?

 

[Robertelamin]

Why does this board call him Chris Mullins?

I’ve always wondered that.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Why does this board call him Chris Mullins?

Ask Terrence Samuels or Carlos Daniels.

 

[Paesano]

Why does this board call him Chris Mullins?

Would he prefer Washed-up Drunk?

 

[Scrutineer]

The only discrimination on UConn's part was against a coach who was woefully inadequate at the job and in way over his head.

Horrible coaches are not a protected class, and the contract as written gives UConn wide leverage to invoke just cause at their discretion.

They chose to do so for KO and not for JC because KO was atrocious at his job, not because he's black, as is well within their right.

If I'm not mistaken, contract language may have been "beefed up" regarding violations by coaches by the time Ollie was hired.

Ollie's lawyer seemed to be making a major issue out of the fact Calhoun's violations weren't met with dismissal after the NCAA levied penalties yet his client was dismissed for cause before any penalties were levied, thus the FOIA request for info on previous violations.

If the contract language had been strengthened it would seem that would help mitigate any accusations of mistreatment of Ollie versus Calhoun regarding their violations and their retention/dismissal after those violations were discovered and penalties meted out by the NCAA.

Anyone have any insights into that issue?

 

[superjohn]

Would he prefer Washed-up Drunk?

What an incredibly stupid thing to say. He's a Hall of Famer and hasn't had a drink since he was in college over 30 years ago.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That’s actual kind of scary if true.
According to UConn the Miller testimony had zero to do with their case. It was dismissed by UConn as here say. So even if it’s not credible it’s legal to make public in response to a FOIR on a specific case any and all information ever gathered on that person whether it lacked credibility or not. Wow That’s pretty frightening if true.

FOIA requests are intentionally broad. “Provide all information related to...”. UConn submitted the entire unedited transcript and everything else. Miller didn’t even work for UConn at the time. What were they supposed to do exactly? Go through the material and select certain things? On what basis? And then what? Ollie’s lawyers blundred big time. It is nothing more than that.

The only risk to UConn in responding is if they decided what was credible or not. It’s not up to them. Their obligation is to provide everything and to let you the people decide what is credible. It’s what the whole law is about. We don’t trust the government to decide what is or isn’t relevant.

 

[intlzncster]

So far we have not signed one kid , I’m getting a little nervous.
If you think St John’s or anyone forthat matter isn’t usingthis mess to negatively recruit our prospects your a tad more trusting than I.

We've had a new regime in place for 2 months. It's not like they've been recruiting guys here for the past 2 years. It takes a little time to prime the pump.

St Johns doesn't have any commits yet either. Not exactly the school I'm worried about anyway.

 

[Madmannsucks]

The one problem with your premise is...He was a key assistant on a team getting ready for probation. He was not hired, he was given a one year term at under 1 mill per year(I could look it up, but I want to say 600K, which was woefully underpaid for UConn). So there's that.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Chief is still sticking by his Chill like recruiting signal about the recent visits.

If Chief say it’s so ,I can sleep easy.

 

[Stinger92860]

Let’s see who initiated the seed of the NCAA fruit? You have GM being dragged to an interview. The press reports indicate the NCAA investigation was initiated by a third party. Not UConn, Not the NCAA. UConn did self report some violations.

It was an FOIA request by KOs legal team. Wow.

 

[The Funster]

If Chief say it’s so ,I can sleep easy.

Yo, word.

 

[DMIL]

How about the fact that KO has no ability to look at what happened with the transfers the blowouts and the program turning to crap and even think that anything was amiss. I get that it’s a legal contract dispute but how long did he think that this could go on?

He thought he would get one more year to right the ship.

 

[CL82]

If I'm not mistaken, contract language may have been "beefed up" regarding violations by coaches by the time Ollie was hired.

Ollie's lawyer seemed to be making a major issue out of the fact Calhoun's violations weren't met with dismissal after the NCAA levied penalties yet his client was dismissed for cause before any penalties were levied, thus the FOIA request for info on previous violations.

If the contract language had been strengthened it would seem that would help mitigate any accusations of mistreatment of Ollie versus Calhoun regarding their violations and their retention/dismissal after those violations were discovered and penalties meted out by the NCAA.

Anyone have any insights into that issue?

I looked at Calhoun's last contract and it pretty similar. Don't know about his prior ones.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

He thought he would get one more year to right the ship.

Point blank question: do you personally think his performance, the team's performance, the NCAA investigation questions, and all else known & unknown warranted another year?
Separate question: do you think KO read things correctly to think he would, as you wrote it, "get one more year to right the ship?

 

[Yardigan]

Need to start another thread that talks about the threads set up to talk about Ollie.

 

[huskeynut]

Point blank question: do you personally think his performance, the team's performance, the NCAA investigation questions, and all else known & unknown warranted another year?
Separate question: do you think KO read things correctly to think he would, as you wrote it, "get one more year to right the ship?

Its not what any of us think. Its what KO thinks.

And yes, he thought he was entitled to another year. Look at it from his point of view. He was the alum coming back after 13 years in the NBA. He was working with his mentor, Jim Calhoun. Calhoun built the UConn brand and he was a part of that. He was touted as the "son who had come home" to coach.

He was the one who was wronged by only getting an interm head coaching job. He won a National Championship. The NBA was calling - Ollie was the hot commodity.

KO was in denial all last year and still is. Union disagreed and said you can't fire him so he was suspended. That act just fueled KO's belief that he had one more year coming to him. In KO's eyes, only he is capable of getting the program going in the right direction. He can't see any other option.

 

[HuskyHawk]

He thought he would get one more year to right the ship.

He got one more year than he should have. And demonstrated a level of incompetence that is barely fathomable.

I honestly doubt that any random high school coach could have been worse. Perhaps it was the pressure to fix things. He had no strategy. He played his worst player an amazing amount of time, started him most of the year. He had three guards, and insisted on playing a 3 guard lineup. That stressed all of them an none could play defense with any intensity.

He was mind bogglingly awful.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Its not what any of us think. Its what KO thinks.

And yes, he thought he was entitled to another year. Look at it from his point of view. He was the alum coming back after 13 years in the NBA. He was working with his mentor, Jim Calhoun. Calhoun built the UConn brand and he was a part of that. He was touted as the "son who had come home" to coach.

He was the one who was wronged by only getting an interm head coaching job. He won a National Championship. The NBA was calling - Ollie was the hot commodity.

KO was in denial all last year and still is. Union disagreed and said you can't fire him so he was suspended. That act just fueled KO's belief that he had one more year coming to him. In KO's eyes, only he is capable of getting the program going in the right direction. He can't see any other option.

I was genuinely inteterested in @DMIL's opinion. How else was I going to learn it except by asking the two questions I asked?

 

[BlueDogs]

KO negotiated a contract with expressly stated provisions that he was responsible for ensuring compliance with NCAA rules under his program. There were violations and that provided just cause for termination. The fact that the program just came out of NCAA sanctions is more than ample reason to assume the strictures of compliance were material. Yes, if KO was knocking it out of the park, the University might have treated him differently, but he wasn’t. The university has the power to waive enforcement as the aggrieved contractual party at is option. It chose not to, which is perfectly within its rights. Frankly, his lawyers screwed him by not demanding a materiality standard or at least some wiggle room on for cause termination. With 10 Million at stake, they should have been very wary of the contractual escape mechanisms the university could use.

As the saying goes, pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered, and KO was a hog bellying up to the trough and didn’t see what was coming. Its what happens when you negotiate off one success and then fail to deliver miserably. Nobody wants to hand a failure a big payday for not delivering.

 

[UconnU]

Find a booster to pay a substantial settlement and be done with it. Please. For the sake of the program.

 

[Goat]

The university chose to attempt to save some or all of the remaining salary by claiming the firing was for cause. Disagreements on this board over whether KO was entitled to another year to right the ship or was worse than a poor high school coach are irrelevant now.

UConn made this about more than won lost records by saying the termination was for cause. They made it about integrity rather than just results. Ollie is a son of the program with a deservedly good reputation. His offenses are minor and I note that many posters here urged him to do more to push the rules to win. The FOIA request was one of many as media outlets filed too.

Coaches get jobs despite poor records on the court. Coaches who commit transgressions as described by Herbst have more trouble. "Poor" UConn thought they would just take $10 million and the man's good reputation earned throughout his life. What would you do to protect your reputation?

This was a deadly serious provocation and created a problem not easily resolved. If he takes $5 million, how does that reflect on his character? Would people think the discount was a reasonable compromise or tacit acknowledgment of misconduct?

Ask Ray Allen if this doesn't impact the "family" or Coach Hurley if he wouldn't have preferred that Ollie just be fired. Do you suppose the NCAA in their adoration of our Huskies isn't intrigued by Miller's hearsay upon hearsay allegation, the one that actually is serious?

Sadly, I expect the strategy of Herbst and Benedict will cost our state university and its brand more than the $$$ they tried to save.