The Cavalier daily. :: Tuesday, March 11, 1969 :: University of Virginia Library

MUCH REASON FOR the dissatisfaction with Coach Gibson's
performance has stemmed from the number of former players he
has lost through various cases of mishandling.

Sam Harvey, an all district basketball selection in Kentucky
along with the great pro Wes Unseld, left the team following the
completion of the season in his second year. Harvey had averaged
16 points a game as a freshman, and was the third guard on the
"year of the orange tie" team. We asked him why he elected to
play no longer.

HE BASED HIS ANSWER to that question on broken
promises and misleading statements by the coaching staff. When
recruited by former first-year coach Gene Mehaffey, Harvey was
promised a scholarship if he made it as a starter on the first-year
team. He did that, and following the season, he went to Coach
Gibson to tell him, "Now I think I've proved myself. How about
the scholarship?" Coach Gibson politely asked Harvey if he could
produce anything in writing in their correspondences which
referred to a scholarship offer. Sam then realized that a verbal
promise wasn't worth a lot in the basketball office.

On the floor, Harvey encountered similar problems. "You
simply have no idea where you stand with Gibson," he stated. "If
you knew you were ninth man on the team, you would have
something to shoot for. But I never knew where I stood. One
game I would start, the next I would play after the fourth guard.
There's your source of dissension, juggling the lineup. Gibson
panics early in the season and won't let the team work together."

THE CASE OF BILL BUCK is another one of masterful
deception. Prior to his first year, Buck, who was sought after by
several other schools, received a visit from Gibson at his home
early in April, 1966. At that time, in the presence of Buck and his
parents, Gibson elaborated upon the honor system, extolling its
virtues, classifying it as one of the most revered traditions at the
University. He then made the following statement, "I promise
you (raising his right hand symbolically), on my honor as a
gentleman, that when you come to Virginia on April 29, I will
not have given out my last scholarship."

Buck, upon his visit of April 29, 1966, had made his decision
to come to Virginia, as a result of this promise. He informed the
other schools recruiting him of his intentions. Upon arrival in
Charlottesville, Buck queried Gibson concerning the scholarship.
Gibson calmly told him that he was "sorry" but he had given out
his last scholarship. The coach had pulled another fast one. After
all, the promise to Buck, in front of his parents, was never in
writing.

STEVE JACKSON, former high school All-American and one
of the finest players to come to Virginia in recent years, now
averages nearly 20 points per game for the University of
Delaware. He left Virginia at the beginning of his second year
because, in his words, "I was dismayed with the entire system."
Jackson, at 6-4, was a fine ball handler and shooter, and, in the
estimation of many, he could have made a top flight backcourt
man in the ACC.

Jackson considers Gibson "a great recruiter, far better than
coach." It was Gibson's treatment of the players that irked
Jackson the most, and ultimately inspired him to leave. He
commented, "He's too hard, and doesn't credit his players with
any intelligence. He seems to lack poise with his players, and
couldn't hold his temper. He should be far more frank than he
is."

Gary Laws, former all-state Virginia high school selection,
provided us with a perceptive analysis of Gibson. In his words, he
decided not to play this season because, "I had simply lost the
desire to play."

The logical question followed from us: why? Laws explained
it as a kind of mysterious intangible. "Either it's Virginia or the
coach, but something really gets to you so that you lose desire.
What he did when I was a player often made no sense. You might
say he simply takes away your spirit to play."

JEFF CRACKEL AND JACK LETTICE, neither of whom had
high scoring averages as varsity players, endured deception
similar to that in the Harvey and Buck cases.

CRACKEL was described by one of his former teammates as "one
of the most dedicated basketball players I have ever seen."
According to this player, "Jeff was told by Gibson that if he
performed well, he'd receive a scholarship. Then he started a
number of games his sophomore year; went to Gibson to ask for
the financial aid he warranted, and had his request refused. After
that, Jeff didn't play much, and was cut the next season.

"It was unfortunate to see how Jeff just drifted away. He
loved basketball so much that he used to stay after practice
several times a week and just shoot for 1½ to 2 hours when the
rest of the gym was close," the former teammate added.

Lettice's story is a near duplicate of Crackel's. Promised
scholarship aid if he made the starting five, Lettice did just that,
then went to Gibson with the request for financial aid he was
promised and had earned. Gibson refused him; Lettice quit.

TOMORROW, the failure of this year's team.