A Program on the Rocks
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After a season of disappointments, on and off the court,
Brown University looks to put the past in the past
even as the scandal of the decade casts continued pall
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown's Bears finished sixth in a decidedly neutered Ivy League season few will remember for anything other than Dartmouth's dominating 13-1 season in-conference … and for the scandal which still threatens to drown the struggling Bears' athletic program entirely. With recruiting restrictions put in place by AD Richard Orton, and continued calls for the complete dismantling of the program by angry alumni, there is continued questioning of whether Rex Danninger is capable of turning this program around.
Or if that job is worth doing at all.
Rumors of player disenchantment abounded throughout the dismal season, during which the Bears started out 2-1 only to then hit a 12-game skid before winning two conference games in a row early in January. Dylan Claxton, the team's one bright spot, averaged 14.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game as a Junior, even as reputable sources suggested he was growing frustrated with his new coach's inability to bring in quality players to improve the situation next season.
Meanwhile, there is still concern that existing team upperclassmen may have had knowledge of the cheating going on prior to Danninger's arrival, and those whispers grew louder throughout the season. There is legitimate question whether more player cuts and sanctions still may be waiting down the road.
Claxton has vowed he will stay for his Senior season, choosing to stick by a coach, and a program, most in college basketball are wishing would just give up and let the NCAA put this embarrassment in the past.
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April 3, 2018The season has come and gone, and I'm just getting started turning this cesspool of a program around. I have been working with the AD and the school President and have decided that four additional players who had ties to those involved in the cheating scandal are having their scholarships revoked effective immediately: Tobe Paulding (Sophomore), Charlie Engstrom (Sophomore), Ryan Sanders (Junior) and Mike Gladieux (Sophomore). But I am confident that we've culled the remaining troublemakers from the team, and can now begin the long, hard process of rebuilding the basketball program around my brand of strong defense, academics and ethics.
I managed to fill four scholarships this year through recruiting, the best of them being early commitment Deon Curtis at shooting guard. But we'll have a lot of walk-on talent playing for us this season and it's likely to be a long fight to regain respectability. But that's what it takes – though the board has refused to give me additional time to right the ship (I have two years remaining on a three-year contract) all I can do is my best.
If the revival of the Brown program is impossible, I won't fail for lack of trying.
I will begin posting in more detail starting with the next (2018-19) season. I may or may not coach out all the games, but I will certainly be posting monthly updates at the least. And I may coach out the games -- I haven't decided which route to go as of yet.