SI: How Kevin Ollie Could Contest UConn's 'Just Cause' Firing

[uconngb]

Nope - don’t want to become a witness.

Of all the outrageous things you've said on this board, this takes the cake. Well done!

 

[JMick]

LOL @ the idea anyone cares.

The NBA is like Sodom and Gomorrah. When they publish surveys that 80% of the WIVES cheat imagine what it is like.

I have friends who worked for teams in positions where you have to deal with the groupies. It’s a circus.

Tiger Woods? Dudes rep was destroyed for years

 

[JMick]

Public humiliation is what Ollie is enduring currently, and it wouldn't be fair "when the rabbit get the gun." Dave Benedict and Susan Herbst may have to resign because of the mess this may cause. Ollie, if clean, I believe will fight this until the end unless they fire him and give him his money to avoid humiliation (I don't think this is about money right now). He will make sure Herbst and Benedict get a taste of public humiliation. If Ollie is clear from any wrongdoing the media will kill Benedict and Herbst for
1. deceitfully using the “just cause” classification to fire Ollie so that it can avoid paying Ollie the remainder of his contract;
2. • UConn has damaged Ollie’s name by depicting him as corrupt and have made it impossible for him to land a similar coaching position;

The NCAA may finally give UCONN a break and announce that Coach Ollie and UCONN men's basketball didn't commit any infractions. They will then sit and watch from the sidelines as UCONN' brain trust dig themselves there graves.

You Ollie-annas are so insuferable. I can't wait until this mess is over so all of you can crawl back into your holes

 

[uconngb]

I really think people are being homers on this one which I get.

Ollie has a contract detailing his payout if terminated. Until we know for sure what the "just cause" is we are all guessing. Every once in a while someone says the hell with a settlement this is about principle. If the just cause turns out to be impermissible practices and too much cream cheese on bagels Uconn looks incredibly bad. Every day this drags on it looks bad for the school. This school needs to get out of the business of buyouts it can't afford to pay without shenanigans.

Disagree. This is about business. Pure and simple. KO was able to hold the school over a barrel in negotiating the contract and nobody said a word. Now the school is doing the same and is getting crucified? This is a business proposition now.....regardless of how it looks or smells. And in NO WAY will it scare off another coach. As I've said before, it's happening at other big time schools as we speak! Stop trying to make it personal!

 

[uconngb]

The University could not open the door to negotiations without first taking the legal steps that they had to take, meaning that they had to assert they had the grounds to fire him for cause first before they begin negotiating. If they didn't do that, and they communicated with KO to try to negotiate a buyout first, the grounds for the for cause firing could be considered a pretext(KO could claim that it was just a concocted excuse to fire him when they had already made up they mind to get rid of him without cause) and that would support KO's defense. It is unfortunate that the University had to take the very public and unfortunate first step in firing him for cause, but they really did not have much of a choice.

THIS........it's VERY simple

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yes, they had another choice. Fire him, pay him his money and keep it moving.

Unfortunately, that was not an option. There's no money. So we either bankrupt and shut down the program or we let Ollie finish destroying it. Those are the two options you present. They wisely chose the better option, fire the guy who isn't getting the job done and use everything you can to avoid paying him money the program doesn't have.

None of this is hurting UConn or UConn's reputation. It doesn't "look bad", that's ridiculous. There is zero downside to this for UConn.

 

[Javjudah]

You Ollie-annas are so insuferable. I can't wait until this mess is over so all of you can crawl back into your holes

@JMick , this isn't about Pro Ollie. This is about seeing things from different lenses of possible outcome.

 

[whaler11]

Tiger Woods? Dudes rep was destroyed for years

You are joking right?

For like 15 minutes - and now he’s the biggest story in sports again.

 

[August_West]

This is an athletic department that lacks the juice to get Corey Edsall settled.

I wouldn’t dream too big on them.

All of a sudden when it means getting rid of KO the AD is a bunch of masterminds playing the deal game shrewder than Henry Kravis.

I actually hope they are right. But to have full faith in that considering past data points is loco.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I don’t think the university fires Ollie for cause without knowing they would win in the legal battle. That’s why everyone knows it’ll be settled.

 

[August_West]

Lol @ the idea that it only happened when get got divorced

So what if he was married?

I mean its a bad look but c'mon dude.
Pitino married for 40 years. He wasnt gone for going 15 seconds on a restaurant table. It was for paying players.

Youve totally jumped the shark.

 

[Padutch5]

There are many coaches out there that have done much worse then Ollie who found jobs afterward. Pearl, Petino, Calipari, Sampson , ect.

Could I ask how we know “there are many coaches out there who have done much worse—who found jobs afterword”. First, on this board, many have concluded it was minor recruiting violations. The fact is, it’s all speculation. There have been many innuendos about his extra curricular activities impacting his coaching, but we really don’t know. Quite a few coaches have been fired for extra curricular activities.
Another fact, yes many of those coaches found jobs afterwords. The ones you mention, however, had pretty successful records , using their own recruits, before they ran into troubles.
Last, Ollie tried to play a pro game without the right talents to run it. Perhaps he can be more successful in the pros.

 

[8893]

I don’t think the university fires Ollie for cause without knowing they would win in the legal battle.

Why not? Their other choice was to pay $10M.

 

[Javjudah]

I don’t think the university fires Ollie for cause without knowing they would win in the legal battle. That’s why everyone knows it’ll be settled.

@Huskyforlife, If this hasn't been settled yet, then Ollie believes he didn't do any wrong. Should this proceed further we will find out what the "just cause" is.

 

[JMick]

You are joking right?

For like 15 minutes - and now he’s the biggest story in sports again.

It took almost a decade to get back.

 

[HuskyHawk]

@JMick , this isn't about Pro Ollie. This is about seeing things from different lenses of possible outcome.

There are four possible outcomes I see.

• Keep Ollie = Program goes down in flames
• Fire and Pay Ollie = no money to replace him -> program goes down in flames
• Fire Ollie and end up having to pay him in arbitration = no money to replace him -> program goes down in flames
• Fire Ollie and reduce the buyout so we can hire a good coach = Program survives and eventually thrives

For the record, I am not rooting for the program to go down in flames.

 

[August_West]

Why not? Their other choice was to pay $10M.

""...but....but...but..... Ollie better never plan on showing up on campus if he doesnt accept less".......

 

[whaler11]

It took almost a decade to get back.

Poor guy had to spend years with Lindsay Vonn and 500 million dollars.

Amazing he survived.

 

[JMick]

Poor guy had to spend years with Lindsay Vonn and 500 million dollars.

Amazing he survived.

Ollie may not care about his reputation. I'm just saying that if he wants to keep it, he will settle

 

[August_West]

It took almost a decade to get back.

Because of injuries not because of reputation.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Because of injuries not because of reputation.

He's "back" as player. For now. He's not coming back as a guy who gets commercials and endorsements like he once did. That part of his reputation is pretty permanently tarnished.

 

[August_West]

He's "back" as player. For now. He's not coming back as a guy who gets commercials and endorsements like he once did. That part of his reputation is pretty permanently tarnished.

Yeah Kevin Ollie lighting up my TV with endorsements the last 5 years.

 

[FDNY99]

@Huskyforlife, If this hasn't been settled yet, then Ollie believes he didn't do any wrong. Should proceed further we will find out what the "just cause" is.

He doesn’t even know what they are using to fire him “for cause”! He finds that out when he, his lawyer and union rep meet with Benedict!

 

[whaler11]

Ollie may not care about his reputation. I'm just saying that if he wants to keep it, he will settle

If what you are hinting at is true it will come out anyway.

Why would Ollie negotiate against that threat.

 

[whaler11]

He's "back" as player. For now. He's not coming back as a guy who gets commercials and endorsements like he once did. That part of his reputation is pretty permanently tarnished.

LOL. Look at the TV ratings the past two weeks.

The guy is bigger than the sport itself.