The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Union set to defend Ollie over firing
Kevin Ollie is still the UConn men’s basketball coach. At least according to the UConn chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
The union, which represents faculty, researchers, coaches and other athletic personnel at UConn, currently considers Ollie suspended with pay, pending his right to a hearing before athletic director David Benedict. As a member of the union, Ollie is provided with due process rights through a negotiated grievance process, according to UConn-AAUP executive director Michael Bailey.
According to Bailey, in a statement sent to Hearst Media Connecticut, Ollie will be able to respond to any evidence Benedict is using to determine what he considers to be violations of NCAA bylaws or terms of his employment agreement and AAUP contract.
“The NCAA has yet to finalize its investigation of this matter,” Bailey pointed out.
On Saturday morning, UConn announced that the school had “initiated disciplinary procedures to terminate (Ollie’s) employment … for just cause.” The school said it would have no further comment until both the university’s disciplinary process and the ongoing NCAA investigation were through.
According to Ollie’s contract, he is entitled to a hearing within 15 days to argue the “just cause” firing. So, that would mean Ollie’s hearing before Benedict would have to occur by March 25.
As first reported by Hearst Media Connecticut in January, UConn is the subject of an NCAA investigation. While it’s not totally known what the specifics of that investigation are, multiple sources have told Hearst Media Connecticut that at least part of the inquiry focuses on the recruitment of Zach Brown, the troubled big man from Miami who committed to UConn in January, 2016, but ultimately landed at St. John’s before running into numerous legal problems. He is currently in prison on a parole violation.
Also, Hearst Media Connecticut recently learned that Jalen Adams and Terry Larrier participated in an impermissible workout over the summer that may have been set up by an acquaintance of Ollie’s. Adams and Larrier nearly didn’t play in UConn’s first-round AAC tournament loss to SMU on Thursday, likely due to issues that needed to be resolved concerning the workouts, according to a source.
Ollie has about $11 million left on his contract, which expires in 2021, unless “just cause” is found for his dismissal. While the most likely scenario is that some sort of negotiation is ironed out, neither Ollie nor Benedict are likely to cave in without a fight. Ollie stands to risk losing everything if the NCAA’s investigation yields damning evidence — and the language of Ollie’s contract is rather broad in terms of what justifies “just cause.”
UConn, on the other hand, risks the appearance of mistreating former beloved UConn player and coach and also petty in looking for a loophole to get out of a contract it didn’t want to pay — particularly if the NCAA’s findings don’t amount to much.
Considering the state’s budget deficit and lack of funds at the university, that’s a risk the school seems willing to take.