AsiaSunset
Postdoc
Posts: 4372
Reg: 11-21-04
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02-24-15 10:17 AM - Post#183449
In this yet another year of discontent, and in light of the fact that I’ve had my own heartaches this winter, I have had time to investigate some of the things that have transpired over the past years that have been part of the difficulties that have led to the current state of Penn basketball.
Let me state up front that the variety of sources I’ve reached out to are both knowledgeable and credible and without any particular agenda. But I will not disclose them. Also this post is not intended to be comprehensive – only to clarify a few misperceptions of many on this board over the years, including myself.
First let me deal with the departure of Fran Dunphy. It has been stated repeatedly by some that Fran was driven from Penn and that a deteriorating relationship between him and the AD was a big part of it. I can definitively state that this conclusion is about as far from the truth as one can get. When Fran was offered the LaSalle job, Penn countered with an extremely generous long term contract that the AD had to sell to President Gutmann for approval. Amy was fairly new as Penn President at that point in time. Thankfully she agreed, but she made it clear that she would not go further were he to be offered a sweeter deal in the future. Of course, a couple years later Fran was offered the Temple job at a substantially higher salary and Penn Athletics was not empowered to even try to compete with that offer. So he left. He was not driven out. In fact, Penn Athletics made every effort to keep him and he left with a bunch of years remaining on a very generous Penn contract that was renegotiated post the LaSalle offer. Amy simply was unwilling to chase a basketball coach with the type of money required to keep him from taking the Temple job.
Now let’s turn to the hiring of Glen Miller, a hiring our former AD has publically taken full responsibility for. Bilsky has stated publically that he had long admired Glen as a coach. It’s my understanding that Bilsky was also a strong admirer of Miller’s mentor, Jim Calhoun. Bilsky had in fact recommended Calhoun for the Penn Head coaching job back in the 80’s which Charles Harris ultimately gave to Craig Littlepage. What should be understood was that Keenan Jepperson was very much part of the Miller transaction and that Jeppersen had been vetted and admitted to Penn and, for those who go back in time and remember, was the only unanimous 1st time All Ivy selection that year along with Ibby Jaaber. Jeppersen was to be the cornerstone around which the Miller era early teams were going to be built around.
Amy ultimately veto’d Jeppersen under pressure from non Penn peers. That same spring she blocked the enrollment of an All American high school lacrosse player who had committed to Duke but wanted out because of problems with their program, the suspension of their season that spring and the overhanging rape allegations. This decision to not admit was once again made as a result of pressure applied by non Penn people. Suffice it to say the player ultimately did enroll at Duke where he earned 1st team All American honors as a collegiate.
The interference in individual athletic admissions matters by the school President was highly unusual and I’m told Amy, to her credit, has subsequently not involved herself similarly; nevertheless, had Keenan Jeppersen been allowed to attend Penn, there was a substantial chance Miller’s disastrous tenure could have turned out differently. This is not to suggest the AD should be absolved of responsibility for the ultimate end result; rather, to simply add that an unusual and unprecedented act by our President helped undermine part of the rationale behind the Miller hire. And – if we remember, Fran had on and off recruiting years and didn’t exactly leave Miller with a lot after the Danley class graduated.
Perhaps there were signs from Miller’s years at Brown that should have been warnings, but for every disgruntled Brown player he coached, there was one who loved Miller and was totally committed to him. Mike Martin is an obvious example. Keenan Jeppersen was another. And – tragically, Keenan Jeppersen never played another minute at Brown and ended up at some school in Canada. So the net result is that Amy and Ruth Simmons screwed both Penn basketball and the kid.
Last issue – the hiring of Jerome. I had represented several times in the past that the decision to fire Glen in Dec came from Amy. This is incorrect. She had fielded several complaints from players’ parents and it was their conclusion that they had initiated the ensuing chain of events. Not true. Bilsky made the decision and went to Amy to get permission to proceed. Unknown to most, including Amy and myself, Bilsky had already lined up a replacement who would succeed Jerome as head coach at the end of the season. A package was put in place, a verbal agreement was reached and everything seemed to be in order. When Bilsky ultimately approached Amy for signoff she killed it as being too expensive. Let me simply say that it was a big number, but not as big as the number Harvard put on the table for the Amakers.
Some of the theories I’ve seen on this board surrounding Jerome’s hiring are so off the wall as to be laughable. He was hired to be an interim and then to become the 1st Assistant to a coach all of us would have been ecstatic to have – end of story. And there was outreach to some of the names frequently mentioned on this board when Plan A was veto’d by Amy. Things just didn’t work out. It should be mentioned that Jerome was highly regarded by the players on the team, especially Zack Rosen, and that there was a strong desire to keep him at Penn. The feeling was he would be an excellent recruiter and a valuable 1st Asst to the new head coach they planned on bringing in. That’s why he was put in the Interim position when Miller was let go.
Clearly the Penn President has every right to control salaries and it was not unreasonable for her to conclude that a coach shouldn’t be making more than some renowned professors at Penn. Nevertheless, that decision is an indication of Gutmann’s total lack of understanding the realities of the marketplace, nor the importance of the Penn basketball program to the Penn community. If we are in job search mode again this spring, one can only hope she has seen the light. With the Amaker hiring and the recent increased focus on football funding at Columbia, one can only hope her thinking has evolved. I’m not optimistic though.
This post doesn’t change anything or absolve anyone of responsibility for the decisions made, but it is intended to provide context. Sometimes things that at the time seem reasonable turn sour for a number of reasons. We’ve had a string of those and we are paying the price. One can only hope Amy Gutmann has learned how important correcting the situation is and will not be an impediment to letting Grace Calhoun address and solve the problem. I have no feeling for whether or not this will be the case. But - I don't think Amy understands much about D1 athletics or even recognizes the problem that we all are hoping gets resolved. I think her biggest concern is that the Dept avoid any kind of incident that would embarrass her and the University. From her perspective she may well feel everything in the Athletic Department is just fine. I’m just not confident she is sensitive to the angst most feel who participate on this board, but we will have to see what unfolds. She is managing a huge institution with a six billion dollar budget. There are many things at Penn that have improved dramatically under her tenure. I just don’t think Penn basketball or even Penn athletics are top of mind for her. To fix something you have to first recognize it’s broken. I’m not sure she does or, if she does, thinks it’s a big deal.
Edited by AsiaSunset on 02-24-15 10:23 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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