Cincinnati men’s basketball mess plagued by unknowns
John Cunningham fired John Brannen Friday afternoon. The University of Cincinnati’s apparent athletic director bid the erstwhile men’s basketball coach a not-fond adieu.
Not many people know precisely what Brannen did to get fired. Not many know what set everything in motion. What we do know is that UC men’s basketball is a white-hot mess now and for the foreseeable future.
What did Brannen do?
Not what unnamed former players presumably in the transfer portal claimed he did. Not what every UC fan with a laptop and an Internet connection said he heard Brannen did. What did Brannen actually do to get fired after two seasons, the second spent in the purgatory known as Coronaville?
This is important, not just to nosy media heathens. Anyone who has even the slightest stake in the men’s basketball program has a right to know how one bad year that was bad all over got a young, talented coach canned.
Until the air is cleared, rumors will fill the space. Kids talk, parents talk, coaches talk. Brannen’s lawyer, Tom Mars, isn’t shy in front of cameras and microphones. The college basketball industry is not large, certainly not at the level UC aspires to inhabit. Once you have created an image, it’s not easy to shake.
What is UC’S image?
Maybe we should ask the “independent fact-finders’’ Cunningham assigned to investigate his former coach. Meantime, the only players willing to put their names to their words had nice things to say about Brannen and the program.
Throughout, the athletic director has had nothing to say, save two squishy press releases.
Cunningham “announced’’ the firing from behind a computer screen. He used nothing language: “A new direction comes after a thorough review ... acting in the best interests of our student-athletes’’ to maintain “our values that we hold dear.’’
This is what you say when you mean to say nothing. Or when you are out of your league and you don’t really know what else to say. The lawyers are fully involved now, so don’t expect any revelations anytime soon. In the meantime, the new coach will have to fill nearly an entire roster on the fly, dealing with rumors and perceptions every pained step of the way.
“I don’t know anything,’’ Steve Boymel, a huge UC basketball fan and substantial donor, said on Friday. “On the record or off, I have no idea how it got to this. I’m worried about the program. I love this program. I live for basketball season. We’re missing an opportunity right now. Right now, it doesn’t seem like we have a team.’’
Limbo never looked this bad. Andy Kennedy coached a year and never got the “interim’’ tag removed from his title.
Remember? He couldn’t recruit. That left Mick Cronin with nothing. It was five years before he turned things around.
There is no Cronin this time, no Cincinnati kid looking at this dire situation and seeing the opportunity of a lifetime. There is only an athletic director saying nothing, and players either gone or thinking about going.
What did Brannen do?
Look, we can all understand the need for silence, especially when the lawyers take over. But, apparently, the discussions about Brannen’s future have been ongoing for several weeks, since well before the season ended. Why hasn’t it been resolved by now? Why was a team of independent sleuths hired only a few weeks ago?
The man was owed a $5 million buyout that UC couldn’t or wouldn’t afford. The school sought to fire him “for cause,’’ hoping to avoid paying him another dime. Now?
“Thank you for your patience’’ was how Cunningham concluded his e-mail missive announcing Brannen’s departure.
Patience? We don’t even know what to be patient about.