Basketball Coaches (vindictive) Gone Wild Again...

[qtlaw]

Someone in the Philly area please ask Phil Martelli what good it does to deny a grad student transfer?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/basketball/ncaa/12/19/todd.obrien/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_t12_a2

Yet again we see how much the NCAA, the organization that earns $1B on the backs of athletes, "cares" about the "student-athletes."

 

[Pancamo]

He will be on the set of ESPN during the tournament and Dickie V will talk about how Martelli is a great paisan.

 

[poindexter]

"molder of men"

 

[LongTimeListener]

If this is true ...

After calling me a few choice words, he informed me that he would make some calls so that I would be dropped from my summer class and would no longer graduate. He also said that he was going to sue me.


that would be grounds for dismissal. Intentional obstruction of an athlete's academic pursuits.

 

[bigpern23]

Phil Martelli has always been an unadulterated douche. This doesn't surprise me one bit.

And no thread about vindictive coaches gone wild is complete without this clip of a fellow Philadelphia coaching legend.

 

[Lester Bangs]

Glad the kid spoke up. One of the biggest injustices in college sports is these kids thinking that once they sign the LOI, they've waived their First Amendment rights. They think this because the PR foofs tell them they can't talk.

 

[ChrisMaza]

As someone who went to St. Joe's and has continued to root for them even in through some very bad years recently, this is extremely disheartening. I knew Martelli was a guy who could be hard on his players, but I was always under the impression that he was someone who stood for what the rest of the university does. Clearly if this is true, he becomes one of the greatest examples of what is inherently wrong in college sports and I can't think of anything short of dismissal being an appropriate action.
As a Hawk, I could not be more embarrassed.

 

[LongTimeListener]

You can see the weak sauce the administration is dishing up by hiding behind the "private matter" excuse. Loses a bit when the matter in question has already been made public by the very person the law is supposedly protecting.

 

[Lester Bangs]

You can see the weak sauce the administration is dishing up by hiding behind the "private matter" excuse. Loses a bit when the matter in question has already been made public by the very person the law is supposedly protecting.

If I could request one thing be done in sports, it would be to force some level of transparency on universities as it pertains to their dealings with athletes. They routinely treat kids like **** and hide behind FERPA. All records should be open with names and identifying details redacted.

 

[Situation]

I whole-heartedly agree that Martelli is a royal asshole here.

At the same time, I get sick of kids jumping from school to school because they don't feel like they're getting enough playing time or feel they don't fit in with the program. The easiest path is to simply jump ship. This player has been at three schools in five years. Really? I don't like the idea of that either. What happened to commitment and loyalty? That applies to coaches, as well.

 

[rmanfredi]

Billy Packer doesn't think this is even worth mentioning.

 

[qtlaw]

I whole-heartedly agree that Martelli is a royal asshole here.

At the same time, I get sick of kids jumping from school to school because they don't feel like they're getting enough playing time or feel they don't fit in with the program. The easiest path is to simply jump ship. This player has been at three schools in five years. Really? I don't like the idea of that either. What happened to commitment and loyalty? That applies to coaches, as well.

The guy graduated, its not like he's the 1 and done guy. St. Joe's doesn't even have the graduate program he wants (and which he interned in the previous summer). There is no good reason to bar the guy from playing.

You think he's going to upset the balance? Open the floodgates? You know what the percentage is of D1 players who graduate with a year of eligibility left? I would bet Mitt Romney's $10k that its less than 1%. Yeah, that's going to kill the competitive balance in D1 basketball.

 

[LongTimeListener]

I am confused about one thing -- so all the other kids who have graduated have transferred with the school's blessing? Or is there something particular to this case (maybe that the guy had walked in graduation but hadn't officially graduated as of last spring) that makes the previous school's approval necessary?

If this is a rule that all the other asshole coaches have been able to heed voluntarily and Phil Martelli alone has seen fit to play out this vindictiveness, that makes him look even worse.

 

[heyabbott]

"molder of men"

thank you

 

[Moderator1]

Has any outlet in Philly done anything on this? It seems rather petty indeed, excessively so. I wonder if there's more to it?

 

[ChrisMaza]

One thing I will point out is O'Brien was suspended for "failure comply with the university's community standards," something he fails to mention in his first-person account.

 

[lone star scribe]

This story only confirms the impression I've had for a long time that Martelli is a Class A prick.

 

[ChrisMaza]

Just talked to a friend of mine who is still closely tied to the university who said that O'Brien and Pat Swilling, Jr were involved in stealing laptops. Swilling was removed from school and O'Brien was allowed to stay.

 

[qtlaw]

One thing I will point out is O'Brien was suspended for "failure comply with the university's community standards," something he fails to mention in his first-person account.

So to penalize the guy you MAKE HIM STAY? I have little doubt that everything is a pretext to screw him over. You should be kicking him out, not keeping him.

 

[Moderator1]

Just talked to a friend of mine who is still closely tied to the university who said that O'Brien and Pat Swilling, Jr were involved in stealing laptops. Swilling was removed from school and O'Brien was allowed to stay.

Seriously? You have any proof of this other than your friend's word? Charges filed? Media reports? This is turning into one hell of a story