Wichita State looking into women’s basketball transfers

[RoyalShock]

This came from a tweet by a KSN twitter account.

[XManCometh]

I hate to say it, but if Jody had the same record that Jane Albright did here she would have been fired.

This is a case of winning keeping you in your position, which I personally find ridiculous.

A sports psychology consultant? Are you kidding me? What a cop out.

Edit: Here is the full statement

Joint statement on WSU women’s basketball program

Following an internal review of the women’s basketball program, Coach Jody Adams and officials at Wichita State University renewed their commitment to ensuring positive experiences for student athletes in a successful program.

The internal review was initiated by university President John Bardo following reports from four players who said they left the program because of certain approaches taken by Adams.

During a two-hour meeting in Morrison Hall on Monday, May 4, Julie Scherz, faculty athletic representative, reported on findings from her interviews with 38 current and former members of the basketball team, coaching staff, team members, parents and others associated with the program. Alan L. Rupe, counsel for Jody Adams, reported on his interviews with the same individuals. It was agreed there were conflicting stories in the interviews.

The parties agreed to several new measures during the meeting, including the appointment of a consultant in sports psychology who may be able to help both the coaching staff and student athletes. Working with this consultant will help everyone identify their challenges, set goals, increase confidence, and cope with difficult times to ensure the continual improvement of the WSU’s women’s basketball team. Players will also have enhanced open lines of communication to the faculty athletic representative and the athletic director.

Athletic Director Eric Sexton said: “As the results of our review were discussed, Coach Adams showed that she has an understanding of the concerns about her coaching style, and she exhibited her willingness to work to constantly improve the women’s basketball program.”

Adams said: “I love Wichita State, our fans and especially our players and their families. I’ve dedicated my life to building a successful program that not only wins basketball games, but prepares young women for the rest of their lives. I regret if my efforts to build winning teams were ever seen as disrespectful of any person. I’ll continue to look for ways that I can improve both my coaching style and technique to help us win games and improve the lives of our players every day.”

Bardo said: “I acted out of concern for the welfare of our student athletes. Dr. Scherz found a strong difference of opinion among players; some whose complaints about Coach Adams were numerous and concerning; others who held Coach Adams in high regard. The agreement we reached with Coach Adams today is intended to promote a positive culture in the program for all players.”

Participants in the meeting in Morrison Hall were Adams and her representatives, Rupe and Jeremy Schrag, from Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith Attorneys; Bardo; Sexton; Ted Ayres, vice president and general counsel; Darron Boatright, associate athletic director; and Scherz, who is an associate professor in communication sciences and disorders at WSU.

[1972Shocker]

A sports psychology consultant? Are you kidding me? What a cop out.

The opposing coaches will love that in the recruiting wars. Yeah, you can go to Wichita State but they have officially determined you will need regular psychological treatment to survive in their program. We don't have the need for that in our program. We are tough but we will treat you with respect.

[RoyalShock]

I hate to say it, but if Jody had the same record that Jane Albright did here she would have been fired.

This is a case of winning keeping you in your position, which I personally find ridiculous.

A sports psychology consultant? Are you kidding me? What a cop out.

Edit: Here is the full statement

I mostly agree, but it does sound to me (reading between the lines) as though the complaints were not completely ignored or deemed to be insincere. It's mildly encouraging. But if the transfers or complaints continue, she needs to be gone. If this doesn't get her attention, nothing will.

[RoyalShock]

The KSN piece includes a poll at the bottom asking if you agree with the decision to keep Adams.

[1972Shocker]

I mostly agree, but it does sound to me (reading between the lines) as though the complaints were not completely ignored or deemed to be insincere (this time around). It's mildly encouraging. But if the transfers or complaints continue, she needs to be gone. If this doesn't get her attention, nothing will.

FIFY.

[ShockdaWorld]

I guess my biggest question is why were there such strong differences of opinion on her coaching style/respect level from different players? Was there an extremely high degree of favoritism towards certain players? Or are there just some who are afraid that if they told the truth, it may reflect poorly on them? I was nowhere near athletically gifted enough to play sports in college, but when I played high school basketball, if coach was on somebody, everybody knew it, and knew why.

[KraRam]

I personally do not understand many of the negative comments from those who are not intimately involved in the process. Dr. Bardo, Mr. Sexton and Ms. Scherz did their due diligence and I trust that the right decision was made. Everybody can improve from players to coaches and I am sure this will be the case. I don't know Jody personally or any of the players or their families. My only support is cheering from the stands and supporting WSU. Many may not agree (or even agree), but few actually have the knowledge and/or "lack of bias" to make a comment that is based on fact and partiality, instead of conjecture and gossip. So I will at this time believe in the people and system that is in place and look forward to my continued support of WSU sports.

[RoyalShock]

I guess my biggest question is why were there such strong differences of opinion on her coaching style/respect level from different players? Was there an extremely high degree of favoritism towards certain players? Or are there just some who are afraid that if they told the truth, it may reflect poorly on them? I was nowhere near athletically gifted enough to play sports in college, but when I played high school basketball, if coach was on somebody, everybody knew it, and knew why.

I don't think any of the players (for or against Adams) are lying. They just had different personal experiences. As for current players, if you look at it from their perspective, of course they are going to support her. If they don't, there would obviously be consequences.

As for favorites, there was a column in The Sunflower a week or so ago that included former player Samantha Smith's account of her time there. She was black, but noticed an obvious bias against non-black players by Adams, including things she heard Adams say. If you look at the number of outspoken former players and transfers, they are overwhelmingly white. I also recall that in the first several years of Adams' tenure at WSU, there were very few non-black players.

[XManCometh]

I personally do not understand many of the negative comments from those who are not intimately involved in the process. Dr. Bardo, Mr. Sexton and Ms. Scherz did their due diligence and I trust that the right decision was made. Everybody can improve from players to coaches and I am sure this will be the case. I don't know Jody personally or any of the players or their families. My only support is cheering from the stands and supporting WSU. Many may not agree (or even agree), but few actually have the knowledge and/or "lack of bias" to make a comment that is based on fact and partiality, instead of conjecture and gossip. So I will at this time believe in the people and system that is in place and look forward to my continued support of WSU sports.

I will continue to support WSU athletics as well, I just don't think the people in charge of the department know what they're doing. They just want to sweep this under the rug as quickly as possible. That's how they deal with every single bad thing that happens in the department. However, with the silly and ridiculous "ruling" on this matter, I don't think we've heard the last of this. It is far from over. The players who are accusing Jody of this will pull out the big guns now. I have no idea what those guns might be (or if they even exist honestly), but they're not going to be happy with this.

[mumdaddy316]

And so what happend to the ladies who desired to transfer. Do they all of a sudden have a change of heart???

[shockswsu]

I, for one, am very curious to see how HCJA's record looks with a bare cupboard, as mentioned above. Would also be interesting to see how she does if the NCAA investigates the allegations of Bylaw 17 (practice hours) violations. The penalty for that is supposed to be a decrease in practice hours by twice the violation. For example, if the practices go over by 4 hours per week, as alleged, the team could only practice 12 hours per week next season, while opponents could continue to practice 20 hours per week.

[1972Shocker]

And so what happend to the ladies who desired to transfer. Do they all of a sudden have a change of heart???

You're kidding right?

[1972Shocker]

I, for one, am very curious to see how HCJA's record looks with a bare cupboard, as mentioned above. Would also be interesting to see how she does if the NCAA investigates the allegations of Bylaw 17 (practice hours) violations. The penalty for that is supposed to be a decrease in practice hours by twice the violation. For example, if the practices go over by 4 hours per week, as alleged, the team could only practice 12 hours per week next season, while opponents could continue to practice 20 hours per week.

I think WSU already announced that they found no such violations. Now how hard they looked at that is another question. I think those rules are rather easy to get around. Just declare, with a wink and a nod, that some activities are voluntary and not mandatory.

[RoyalShock]

I think WSU already announced that they found no such violations. Now how hard they looked at that is another question. I think those rules are rather easy to get around. Just declare, with a wink and a nod, that some activities are voluntary and not mandatory.

Or, just don't record that some of the activities even occurred. This wouldn't be difficult to do if the direct oversight is lacking.

It makes me wonder how Randy Smithson got busted for that.