Statement from KO

[Paesano]

KO thought UConn was bluffing. UConn showed him they weren't. KO is toast and knows it. He also knows that UConn held back on releasing the embarrassing personal stuff but that they will probably do it if he doesn't back down. This letter is an attempt to get UConn back to the table to negotiate. He is trying to salvage what he can.

 

[djct1999]

He is going to have to downsize his life style some and get a $300k to $400k job at the end of an NBA bench. Ray and Scott have talked to him is my information.

When it's put that way, I really sympathize with him. It sucks living on 400k.

 

[RM99]

UCONN shoots itself in the foot again is the best headline for this fiasco. Everything the athletic office and others in charge do gets negative headlines. Getting rid of KO because he’s losing could have been done in a quiet thank you for your service way. Pay him the money, or come to a mutual deal and save the money spent on lawyers and more importantly keep theses and past indiscretions from the headlines. Kevin Ollie, in a note, has said he bleeds blue, loves UCONN and some “fans” say they would boo him. Kevin may not have been the coach UCONN needed but he was a player that brought pride and heart to the program. I wish him the best of luck and thank him for bleeding blue.

 

[August_West]

My views are all contingent on UConn offering a settlement to Ollie in March and him declining, which is all speculation. I probably spoke a little irrationally and I'm not sure we'll ever find out if a settlement was offered. If there wasn't, my viewpoint on Ollie is entirely different.

You are right. There is no way to know. Yet. I hope we do find out. It's important.

I have a different take. I feel that offering a settlement so early out of the chute after claiming "just cause" would weaken UConn's claim for just cause. It would seem to me a lawyer representing Ollie could have a field day with that notion. So Im skeptical there was an offer that early. Just a gut feeling as an observer. Not grounded in knowledge of fact.

I think now a few months later settlement becomes a possibility as both sides are firing salvos, but that early in the process considering UConn's hard, line in the sand claim a settlement offer doesnt feel right to me.

 

[The X Man]

Not with your juvenile statement
Thank you, I love my grand kids and being a grand pa
I'll ask my 8yr old grandson to give you a lesson in tact

But calling someone a is tactful? Maybe your grandson could give you a lesson too?

 

[mauconnfan]

Thank you for that note of sanity, but (other than your opinion about AB) it's what I've come to expect from you.

Sorry for that seems I always have one I expect too much from. Probably looked at it from the wrong viewpoint all along but it's too late. Now it seems besides this KO argument we all should be pretty excited about the direction we seem to be going and that makes it fun again.

 

[Paesano]

UConn should settling and give KO...hmmmm...let's see...$30K!!!!

 

[mauconnfan]

My views are all contingent on UConn offering a settlement to Ollie in March and him declining, which is all speculation. I probably spoke a little irrationally and I'm not sure we'll ever find out if a settlement was offered. If there wasn't, my viewpoint on Ollie is entirely different.

Fair enough I guess.

You can sleep tonight knowing Huskybass said you did nothing wrong.

 

[fatlucy]

UCONN shoots itself in the foot again is the best headline for this fiasco. Everything the athletic office and others in charge do gets negative headlines. Getting rid of KO because he’s losing could have been done in a quiet thank you for your service way. Pay him the money, or come to a mutual deal and save the money spent on lawyers and more importantly keep theses and past indiscretions from the headlines. Kevin Ollie, in a note, has said he bleeds blue, loves UCONN and some “fans” say they would boo him. Kevin may not have been the coach UCONN needed but he was a player that brought pride and heart to the program. I wish him the best of luck and thank him for bleeding blue.

I wish him all the luck in the world and I hope he a great rest of his life as a proud UCONN player and amazing two year coach but I'm cheering UCONN admins for sticking to their guns and not bowing to "feel good" pressure to pay him unearned taxpayer money. He didn't deserve to be paid and we don't deserve to pay for it. Haven't you looked at the financial disaster our state is in? Its b/c our state leaders have mismanaged our money for decades. And this is not political, its both the Dem legislation/Unions and the Rep governors who all screwed us. This is legitimately the best example of fiscal responsibility I've seen by a State agency since Weicker. Maybe Benedict should run for Governor.

 

[UConnNick]

You are right. There is no way to know. Yet. I hope we do find out. It's important.

I have a different take. I feel that offering a settlement so early out of the chute after claiming "just cause" would weaken UConn's claim for just cause. It would seem to me a lawyer representing Ollie could have a field day with that notion. So Im skeptical there was an offer that early. Just a gut feeling as an observer. Not grounded in knowledge of fact.

I think now a few months later settlement becomes a possibility as both sides are firing salvos, but that early in the process considering UConn's hard, line in the sand claim a settlement offer doesnt feel right to me.

Settlement negotiations at any stage are inadmissible in court, and therefore irrelevant in judicial or administrative proceedings. It won't matter what might have been proposed or discussed at any point in time between the parties. This rule is in force to encourage parties to settle matters on their own before having to go the distance in court.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

UConn should settling and give KO...hmmmm...let's see...$30K!!!!

Not unfunny, but can consensus form (from many perspectives in many contexts) for another couple of zeroes spaced over time with conditions that the blood still flows blue?

That might be close to a sweet spot where everybody is a little unhappy but not too harmfully so in any one direction.

 

[Paesano]

Not unfunny, but can consensus form (from many perspectives in many contexts) for another couple of zeroes spaced over time with conditions that the blood still flows blue?

That might be close to a sweet spot where everybody is a little unhappy but not too harmfully so in any one direction.

I liked one suggestion, perhaps you made it, that UConn offer him what the buyout would have been based on his first extension. If people want to talk ethics, there is reason to believe that Ollie got that last extension under less than honest circumstances. Was it a stupid contract from UConn's side? Yep. Did Ollie bluff them into a panic? Maybe. Should they have said no, either way, and let him walk to the NBA if that is what it would take to avoid a stupid buyout? Yep. But, in the end, Ollie stopped doing his job and was negligent. And, on top of that, he may have duped/scared UConn into a bad deal. The previous deal was more reasonable and it seems reasonable to give him what he deserved based on that deal. That's a good compromise, in my opinion.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I liked one suggestion, perhaps you made it, that UConn offer him what the buyout would have been based on his first extension. If people want to talk ethics, there is reason to believe that Ollie got that last extension under less than honest circumstances. Was it a stupid contract from UConn's side? Yep. Did Ollie bluff them into a panic? Maybe. Should they have said no, either way, and let him walk to the NBA if that is what it would take to avoid a stupid buyout? Yep. But, in the end, Ollie stopped doing his job and was negligent. And, on top of that, he may have duped/scared UConn into a bad deal. The previous deal was more reasonable and it seems reasonable to give him what he deserved based on that deal. That's a good compromise, in my opinion.

If we had let him walk we would be going on year 4 of the Greg Marshall era at UConn. We definitely unrightfully panicked.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I liked one suggestion, perhaps you made it, that UConn offer him what the buyout would have been based on his first extension. If people want to talk ethics, there is reason to believe that Ollie got that last extension under less than honest circumstances. Was it a stupid contract from UConn's side? Yep. Did Ollie bluff them into a panic? Maybe. Should they have said no, either way, and let him walk to the NBA if that is what it would take to avoid a stupid buyout? Yep. But, in the end, Ollie stopped doing his job and was negligent. And, on top of that, he may have duped/scared UConn into a bad deal. The previous deal was more reasonable and it seems reasonable to give him what he deserved based on that deal. That's a good compromise, in my opinion.

It wasn't my suggestion, but it resonated with me when I read it.

Another take on the same thing would be that KO felt that he deserved another year to turn it around, and perhaps we could call that the third try for Alterique's AAC Rookie of the Year magic. AD Benedict thought No on this perspective after seeing enough on the court and learning enough about off the court (including non-basketball and compliance-related) matters).

The overwhelming mood on this board, and the prevailing mood in media reports is that getting a new farmer for next year would be a better bet for healthy growth. In the $3 million settlement scenario, the thinking is that "paying the old farmer not to grow corn" would be better than giving him another chance and risking similar results. In the totality of things, it's not a bad posture, and it can be fashioned into a tellable story from a lot of angles, even if it lacks a measure of drama that some folks like for various motivations.

 

[EBonz30]

Personally this letter is closure for Kevin Ollie and explains to the state, university, administration, players, & fans that he truly enjoyed his time at UCONN and that he has no hard feelings towards anyone involving his time at UCONN even though it ended ugly. Now he feels that he can move on to his next stage in his life.

To be honest I commend and admire what he did and what he stated in that letter, I would’ve done the exact same thing, I actually have done a similar type of thing already in my life.

 

[AverageFan]

Joined March 10th and first posted today.
Tell us a little bit more about yourself so we can get to know you.

You're on a 'need-to-know' basis.

 

[Mokum]

He is going to have to downsize his life style some and get a $300k to $400k job at the end of an NBA bench. Ray and Scott have talked to him is my information.

Oh poor guy. Has to make do with 300 to 400 thousand.

 

[Chief00]

Dave Borges on same topics: Kevin Ollie’s lawyers refute many of claims that caused him to lose job as UConn coach

It must be tough being a lawyer when your client keeps blindsiding you.

 

[willie99]

Thank you Kevin, and I wish you all the best going forward. Another door will open for you soon enough, and I truly hope you find success and happiness, I hope you win another national title somewhere down the road, as long as it's not against UConn.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

You're on a 'need-to-know' basis.

No doubt.
Looking forward to more from our new Alaskan assassin.

PS - I've never seen a post time-stamped at 3:59pm on the thread but 5:17am on the alert. Then again, I never thought to look. Kinda fun.
Looking forward to more, maybe the new "average?"

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Calhoun on his recruiting trip to URI in September 2016.

Quoting yourself and posting the picture twice. Glad it's not a picture anyone felt the need to take down. I hope this facilitates amicable settlement and success for all parties moving forward.

Oh great, I got an error message to limit myself to one piece of media, so I had to delete the second photo. All for the best.

 

[HooperScooper]

Personally this letter is closure for Kevin Ollie and explains to the state, university, administration, players, & fans that he truly enjoyed his time at UCONN and that he has no hard feelings towards anyone involving his time at UCONN even though it ended ugly. Now he feels that he can move on to his next stage in his life.

To be honest I commend and admire what he did and what he stated in that letter, I would’ve done the exact same thing, I actually have done a similar type of thing already in my life.

You believe that BS? That's a PR letter written in conjunction with a lawyer or public relations firm. Nothing more, nothing less.

I wish no ill will on Kevin Ollie. I wish him the best in whatever he decides to do. But I couldn't read that letter without laughing.

 

[Chief00]

You believe that BS? That's a PR letter written in conjunction with a lawyer or public relations firm. Nothing more, nothing less.

All I want to hear at this point is resolution and KO going back to LA.

 

[David 76]

Not JC but AD David Benedict is a db period and SH has zero backbone
Heard some feedback on Sirrius FM from an analyst about the issue and while he admitted that KO should probably lose his job over his performance (I agree on that point 100%) QUOTE]

I didn't think you thought KO should be fired.

 

[Stainmaster]

@AverageFan, tell us your opinion of the team’s performance from 2016-18.

 

[Chief00]

Note to the casual fans out there - this is why gag orders are necessary, if done right.

As Chief gets older, he recognizes even more the value of due process. Maliciously throwing out second and third hard gossip into a formal investigation with the intent to injury people is beyond trailer park trash.
Miller’s narritive about Chill was wild and he threw an ex UConn great, Ray Allen, who tries to stay connected to the program under the bus. Chief can’t think up words to characterize my total disgust. Maybe Calhoun will listen to me next time? I doubt it but he’s not happy with Glen now - you can count on that.

 

[JMick]

@AverageFan, tell us your opinion of the team’s performance from 2016-18.

are you implying he's not just an "average fan"?!

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

All I want to hear at this point is resolution and I am going back to LA.

Disneyland instead of Disneyworld?

 

[Huskymagic]

Ollie's letter is not some epiphany ladies and gentlemen. It's a calculated move realizing that UCONN has a great case against him, and the narrative surrounding his situation is completely against him, his lawyers advised him to send out a gracious letter. Smart on their part.

People need to move on. Ollie is gone and the Hurley era has begun.

 

[Thirty Three]

You believe that BS? That's a PR letter written in conjunction with a lawyer or public relations firm. Nothing more, nothing less.

I wish no ill will on Kevin Ollie. I wish him the best in whatever he decides to do. But I couldn't read that letter without laughing.

What stood out to me after reading it was that he spent an awful lot of time patting himself on the back (he didn't mention running the program into the ground from his own neglect and breaking NCAA rules). He must have forgot about those small details.