New court filings name former UConn standouts Rodney Purvis, Sterling Gibbs, Terry Larrier in Kevin Ollie case

[Engineer90]

JC had a final report and was given a slap on the wrist. KO has open accusations and was fired without due process. Does that make it rasism, no. It became rasism the day KO was born black. That simple. If there is a minory involved and there is injustice or a claim of unequal treatment then we have to look at racism. Not saying that this equals racism but it definitely doesn’t exclude it. As a white man myself, I had to look in the mirror and ask myself am I a racist based on the privileged life I grew up in in CT and can I relate to someone from Compton that had to fight for everything his whole life and worked his ass off. I will say I’m not a rasist but I have to ask myself to see things from the other side. That’s all we can do as Americans and especially as Huskies.

What the hell is rasism? I guess your privilege didn't include good schools that taught you how to spell. And can we stop with the victim crap? It is an insult to the people that worked hard and became successful without your pity and virtue signaling.

 

[Dogdeacon]

. That’s what I’ve been thinking for months. Great post. Lol.

What?! Why isn't the same true when the Ollie sychophants say UConn should pay Ollie millions for not coaching after inadequate coaching!?
On the one hand I will take fewer options to save $50/month, on the other hand just pay someone the equivalent of EIGHT THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED THIRTY THREE months of that (that's longer than Bobby Bonilla's contract I think) because it is the right thing to do.
Should one immediately cut their cable expenses when operating at a loss or pay the cable company a few thousand years worth of fees to go away?

But didn't the poor cable companies faithfully lay the lines down and bring the service to your doorstep? Now you are going to use their same painstakingly labored for internet lines to deprive them of their future earnings just because they overprice the services you realize are inadequate?

Kevin Ollie is James Dolan suing his dad's former customers in this scenario, only thing missing is the terrible 'rock' music.

 

[Madmannsucks]

What the hell is rasism? I guess your privilege didn't include good schools that taught you how to spell. And can we stop with the victim crap? It is an insult to the people that worked hard and became successful without your pity and virtue signaling.

Yeah...he is an insult to all those people that worked hard. How could he relate. Growing up in a single parent home in Compton. Playing hoops for 4 years at UConn while earning a degree. Bouncing around the CBA with a series of 10 day NBA contracts

Ollie was born in Dallas, Texas to parents Fletcher and Dorothy Ollie and grew up in the rough neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles. When Ollie was 7, his parents divorced and his father moved to Dallas. He spent summers there, cutting lawns and doing other odd jobs so he could be with him for some length of time.[3] His mother, a school teacher and ordained minister, raised him and his older sisters, Vita and Rhonda, by herself.[4

I know, how INSULTING.

I have been to South Central. It has taken many, many young lives along the way.


Although he was only in his second year of coaching, he started with a team subject to sanctions, unable to compete in the NCAA tournament, and still managed to complete the season with a 20–10 record, and followed that with a National Championship.[14]

Yup...again an INSULT.

 

[Alexa]

Part of the job of a coach is to keep players. The way to keep players is by proving you can coach them up and help them achieve their career goals. KO failed at that. We saw that failure in the won-loss record, in the eye test of quality of play, in the lack of player development, and in the transfers.

Look, Ollie was fired for two reasons -- poor performance and NCAA violations. The NCAA violations gave UConn the right ("cause") to stop paying him 6 months after he stopped working. There's nothing unfair about that. Ollie should either show he didn't commit NCAA violations, or go home.

I agree. Why do you think these players all transferred at once? Why did an all American recruit decommit? All of these players worked daily with a particular coach that was fired. A coach that obviously wanted to see the program fail. There were close relationships with those players and this coach. The writing is on the wall.

 

[Alexa]

Talking about 4 players transferring and another de-committing as if these are things that just happened to KO, as if he didn't have direct responsibility for those outcomes, is pretty much the textbook definition of "apologizing" for him.

He's not a great coach who fell on hard times. He was a bad coach who stopped putting in the effort, and likely committed NCAA violations along the way. His demeanor on the sidelines over the last 3-4 years I would hardly describe as "holding his head high".

If he were really interested in being an upstanding representative of the university, worthy of our respect, maybe he should have tried harder.

Did he really stop putting in the effort or is that the narrative on the BY. Do you know how many hours he worked at his craft? Are you with him daily? If you know these things do share.

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

What the hell is rasism? I guess your privilege didn't include good schools that taught you how to spell. And can we stop with the victim crap? It is an insult to the people that worked hard and became successful without your pity and virtue signaling.

One can work hard all their life and still not be as successful as someone with a more favorable start they were born into. Being successful also requires a little luck and being at the right place at the right time. I believe KO had a combination of reasons went sour. Part of it was on him and part of it was being unlucky at the wrong place at the right time.

 

[Alexa]

No, they aren't. Once he brought race into it, he was insinuating racism. Being treated differently because of race is the actual definition of racism. If he wanted to just point out that UConn was inconsistent, he could have said that without pointing out the races of those involved.

Unfortunately, race is always involved. The way you all spew hate at Ollie is relentless. You all act as if he can’t have friends or a glass of wine. It’s pathetic. The treatment is unfair because there wasn’t due process. There were no findings, only allegations at this point. The prior coach had findings and was slapped on the wrist. We can’t see it because as the majority we are in a comfort zone. ADD was part of the crew that fired Tubby Smith at Minnesota, another of only 4 African American National Championship coaches. Also part of the crew that hired crooked Bruce Pearl at Auburn. Again, I’m no Ollie apologist but I have to look at the total picture. Racism can never be ruled out. Ollie wanted to get it on the record to have the opportunity to file a racial claim down the line. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Alexa]

One can work hard all their life and still not be as successful as someone with a more favorable start they were born into. Being successful also requires a little luck and being at the right place at the right time. I believe KO had a combination of reasons went sour. Part of it was on him and part of it was being unlucky at the wrong place at the right time.

Sorry, iPhone typos

 

[Alexa]

Sorry, iPhone typos

I totally agree. It’s good to read sensible posts here. We are Huskies, we need to handle accordingly.

 

[Alexa]

What the hell is rasism? I guess your privilege didn't include good schools that taught you how to spell. And can we stop with the victim crap? It is an insult to the people that worked hard and became successful without your pity and virtue signaling.

Sorry my friend, iPhone auto types the word that way. I do know it’s racism. Let’s not be upset here. I come in peace. We are all part of the Husky family.

 

[Madmannsucks]

I listened to this Calhoun/Jacobs podcast from last October-Listening to JC on KO is poignant, to say the least. Good listen, the KO portion starts around 18:45-this is as good a place as any for this.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Part of the job of a coach is to keep players. The way to keep players is by proving you can coach them up and help them achieve their career goals. KO failed at that. We saw that failure in the won-loss record, in the eye test of quality of play, in the lack of player development, and in the transfers.

Look, Ollie was fired for two reasons -- poor performance and NCAA violations. The NCAA violations gave UConn the right ("cause") to stop paying him 6 months after he stopped working. There's nothing unfair about that. Ollie should either show he didn't commit NCAA violations, or go home.

All Ollie has to prove is that UConn went looking for a technical violation to void his contract because he wasn't winning enough, and he is probably going to win the legal fight.

 

[superjohn]

JC had a final report and was given a slap on the wrist. KO has open accusations and was fired without due process. Does that make it rasism, no. It became rasism the day KO was born black. That simple. If there is a minory involved and there is injustice or a claim of unequal treatment then we have to look at racism. Not saying that this equals racism but it definitely doesn’t exclude it. As a white man myself, I had to look in the mirror and ask myself am I a racist based on the privileged life I grew up in in CT and can I relate to someone from Compton that had to fight for everything his whole life and worked his ass off. I will say I’m not a rasist but I have to ask myself to see things from the other side. That’s all we can do as Americans and especially as Huskies.

Kathy gave a like for the rasism!

 

[Madmannsucks]

Kathy gave a like for the rasism!

Soon as I stop laughing, I WILL report this. Fair warning.

 

[Kathy]

Kathy gave a like for the rasism!

Wtf is this post about? - we all get typos. And yes they could argue he was treated differently because of race or because of losing either argument could be made. Made successfully who knows but lawyers always looking at different angles.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Wtf is this post about? - we all get typos. And yes they could argue he was treated differently because of race or because of losing either argument could be made. Made successfully who knows but lawyers always looking at different angles.

They were mocking Alexa who had a typo. As you are probably aware, this has NEVER happened here before. So they piled on you personally, because they disagree with you and lack the maturity to understand having a philosophical difference with someone must then lead to intense dislike for said person.
Typed in my best Hans Sprungfield voice.

 

[superjohn]

Wtf is this post about? - we all get typos. And yes they could argue he was treated differently because of race or because of losing either argument could be made. Made successfully who knows but lawyers always looking at different angles.

And Ollie told Calhoun to go screw because Calhoun is an old white man.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Yeah...he is an insult to all those people that worked hard. How could he relate. Growing up in a single parent home in Compton. Playing hoops for 4 years at UConn while earning a degree. Bouncing around the CBA with a series of 10 day NBA contracts

Ollie was born in Dallas, Texas to parents Fletcher and Dorothy Ollie and grew up in the rough neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles. When Ollie was 7, his parents divorced and his father moved to Dallas. He spent summers there, cutting lawns and doing other odd jobs so he could be with him for some length of time.[3] His mother, a school teacher and ordained minister, raised him and his older sisters, Vita and Rhonda, by herself.[4

Give me a break. Kevin Ollie also worked his tail off over a 12yr NBA career and made $20MM, more than 99.99% of the earth's population will make in their lifetimes. Then he was UConn's head coach for 6 years and made another roughly $14MM. He earned most of that other than the last 2 years of his UConn salary where he didn't work hard, violated his contract and under-performed in every meaningful aspect of the job. But no one is coming after him for the $6MM he was paid during two years that were an abject failure that UConn is still paying for in lost image, performance & hence revenues. HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK OLLIE'S, RECRUITING, DEVELOPMENT, PLAYER RETENTION, ADMINISTRATIVE, RULES VIOLATIONS AND COACHING FAILURES HAVE COST UCONN FROM 2016 to the present day?
Since Kevin Ollie got fired for not doing his job, rather than go back to work like before, it seems the only thing he's up to is blaming and lawsuits.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The race card argument can be scuttled by 1) Pointing out that Calhoun's punishment, or lack thereof, was overseen by an entirely different administration. and 2) Discussing the negative impact that Calhoun's NCAA violations had on the program and the university, thus illustrating why the current university brass would want to take a hard line approach and mitigate the potential damage caused by Ollie's transgressions.

I don't blame Ollie for trying to throw whatever he can at the wall to see if anything sticks. He's a desperate and broken man. But in the end, this is all his fault. Maybe one day he can become mature enough to accept responsibility for his own actions.

It is further scuttled by the fact that Calhoun was great at his job and Ollie wasn't. That's a perfectly legitimate reason to hold someone to the strict requirements of a contract, or not.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Since Kevin Ollie got fired for not doing his job, rather than go back to work like before, it seems the only thing he's up to is blaming and lawsuits.

There is not a single coach in America that would would simply walk away from his buyout in a situation like this. End of story.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Except he asks the question many are dodging. Ollie never claimed he was fired due his race. He alleges he was not treated the same as his white counter parts/predecessors. Those are 2 distinctly different things.

He is claiming disparate treatment on the basis of race. At a school that hired him even though he was utterly unqualified for the job. At a school who had a black AD at the time and which has other black coaches even now.

It's a ridiculous claim because he knows it is false, you know it is false and we all know it is false. He was treated differently than Calhoun because Calhoun built the program, and was a Hall of Fame coach and Ollie had become disinterested, complacent, and was generally doing a terrible job. That can be true, and they still would have properly fired him for cause. Why is this hard to believe? And does anybody think a CT jury won't accept the real reason? As opposed to some fanciful charge or racial discrimination?

 

[Madmannsucks]

Give me a break. Kevin Ollie also worked his tail off over a 12yr NBA career and made $20MM, more than 99.99% of the earth's population will make in their lifetimes. Then he was UConn's head coach for 6 years and made another roughly $14MM. He earned most of that other than the last 2 years of his UConn salary where he didn't work hard, violated his contract and under-performed in every meaningful aspect of the job. But no one is coming after him for the $6MM he was paid during two years that were an abject failure that UConn is still paying for in lost image, performance & hence revenues. HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK OLLIE'S, RECRUITING, DEVELOPMENT, PLAYER RETENTION, ADMINISTRATIVE, RULES VIOLATIONS AND COACHING FAILURES HAVE COST UCONN FROM 2016 to the present day?
Since Kevin Ollie got fired for not doing his job, rather than go back to work like before, it seems the only thing he's up to is blaming and lawsuits.

If I remember correctly, he inherited a program deemed ineligible for the post season, caused by his predecessor.

 

[Madmannsucks]

He is claiming disparate treatment on the basis of race. At a school that hired him even though he was utterly unqualified for the job. At a school who had a black AD at the time and which has other black coaches even now.

It's a ridiculous claim because he knows it is false, you know it is false and we all know it is false. He was treated differently than Calhoun because Calhoun built the program, and was a Hall of Fame coach and Ollie had become disinterested, complacent, and was generally doing a terrible job. That can be true, and they still would have properly fired him for cause. Why is this hard to believe? And does anybody think a CT jury won't accept the real reason? As opposed to some fanciful charge or racial discrimination?

1st, I do NOT know he was "utterly unqualified"............many make that stupid comment. Calhoun turned over a program in shambles. academically disqualified, reduced scholarships, etc, etc. Glad you can predict a jusy outcome, yet we on this board cannot agree.

 

[intlzncster]

Except he asks the question many are dodging. Ollie never claimed he was fired due his race. He alleges he was not treated the same as his white counter parts/predecessors. Those are 2 distinctly different things.

His mistake is assuming they were operating under the same set of circumstances/variables. They weren't.

 

[intlzncster]

1st, I do NOT know he was "utterly unqualified"..many make that stupid comment. Calhoun turned over a program in shambles. academically disqualified, reduced scholarships, etc, etc. Glad you can predict a jusy outcome, yet we on this board cannot agree.

His resume made him unqualified . UCONN, despite sanctions, was a top tier program. It deserved a nation-wide coaching search. And preferably a coach that had some D1 HC, tournament, NCAA experience.

They gave the keys to a rolls royce , one that was in the shop no less, to someone who'd never had a licence before.

And not for nothing, but the program still had studs in the pipeline, unless you don't consider guys like Bazz, Boat and crew studs.

Ollie rewarded that choice by outperforming at the start. We all know what happened after that.