From reading through the message boards with the suspension of Cooper as expected there has been a lot of disappointment. But I’m surprised at the anger at the coaching staff instead of the young man who pushed his way off the roster. I’m not there to see the day by day operations of the program but it’s obvious when you consider Rupp suspended Cooper already this season in Alaska for the (all encompassing) violation of team rules and you combine that with the obvious attitude and strife inducing behavior Cooper has exhibited at home games this season that he was a problem. A basketball program is like an iceberg to fans. We only see 1/3 of the action which is visible on game day. If a coach who is with a player for 40 hours a week decides he has gone over the line of no return then it’s his call. Rupp has made it plain that he will not stand for trouble in his program no matter how good the player. The more I think about this decision the more I agree with it.
A good amount of the fan base still is angry about the non scholarship renewal last spring of the four players. The majority of these comments generally go with the premise that Rupp “threw those poor players out with the trash”. Athletic scholarships are a one year guarantee just like Academic scholarships. But here’s the difference. Generally a player at a high major or mid major level has a chance to go play at a lower level. In fact all four of those players had their education paid for in 2008 due to their skills of playing basketball. From what I’ve read Drew Washington managed to get thrown off of another team which in my opinion validates Rupp’s decision even more. Even with all their baggage Cooper and White will have NAIA schools clamoring for their services.
To put that in terms for those of us who were not gifted enough to get an athletic scholarship in college:
I am a top notch academic student coming out of high school. I have a good gpa and act. I was in the top five in the state at the literary rally. So I sign a full academic scholarship to Louisiana Tech in the engineering department for my freshman year. To get the scholarship renewed I must perform up to the standards of the engineering department review the next spring. We’ll say the minimum gpa to keep the scholarship is a 3.5. If I party too hard and don’t develop as a student (this part hits home) and bring in a 2.5 then the money goes away and I must pay out of pocket. But if real life were like college athletics I would get a call from the head of the Nicholls State department or LSUS with the comment that “even thought it didn’t work out well for you at Louisiana Tech we saw your high school academic performance and think you can thrive here in our environment and in the end boost our graduation rates” and get to transfer to a “lower” level. Of course this might happen if the heads of department were hired and fired based on the academic performance of their students.
Also just basketball with its small rosters makes it easy to see when a coach decides not to renew a player’s scholarships. With only 13 players and everyone on a full ride it’s obvious when someone doesn’t come back. But this happens on every sport on every college campus in America. Dooley only has 50 players on his roster right now. Even if he over signs the maximum 25 he still won’t be at the roster maximum of 85. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that he cleaned out his roster (like Rupp) from the trash that the former coach left him.
And if you are offended by a player losing a scholarship for performance you really don’t want to know about the non revenue sports like baseball, softball, soccer, and track. They split scholarships in those sports. Baseball at Louisiana Tech has 11.5 scholarships to share among 28 players. Think Coach Simoneaux can afford to renew the scholarship (full or partial) of a player who hits .220? Not if he likes his job.
Which bring me back to my real thought process. This is division one basketball. It’s not intramurals. Coaches are hired and fired by wins. It’s all about production. So those coaches should have carte blanche in making personnel decisions (within the NCAA rules). Worrying about feelings should have stayed in high school.
A Closer Look at Latech Hoops 