University of Virginia Library

Ryan Discusses Basketball Controversy

it might be a long season, may be as
long as the end of Match. Even the
fans sensed it. The home opener
against George Washington drew
the largest crowd of the year,
outside of the UNC game. One
could feel the excitement and the
air of anticipation as the crowd
gave the team a standing ovation
during the introductions, something
they would not do for the rest of
the season. But 44 seconds into the
game the likelihood of a great
season vanished as Chip Case went
down with his second tom knee
cartridge in as many years. Chip was
the best all round player on the
squad and the leading scorer but
more importantly he was the team
leader, and the team knew it. With
his loss the Cavaliers were beheaded
on the court just as South Carolina
would have been beheaded if they
lost John Roche and just as Wake
Forest would have been if they lost
Charlie Davis.

The team had been built around
Case's many skills and obviously a
player of his talent cannot be
replaced from the bench. John
English was plugged into the
play makers spot for eighteen games
but he could not match Case. To
add to the problems in the
backcourt, Tony Kinn was quite ill
during December and was very slow
getting his game going. Even
without Case the Cavaliers were
able to beat South Carolina and
Duke, it might have been on
emotion alone but that emotion
was helped by the fact that the
Wahoos were playing veterans
against predominantly sophomore
teams. The third major loss
occurred after the Big Five
tournament as Buddy Reams left
the squad because he was
concerned about his health and
grades. Reams was more than just a
reserve forward and part time
starter. He was a two year veteran,
a tough rebounder as well as the
only forward who could shoot from
more than eight feet out. Without
him and with Tony Kinn playing
poorly the Cavaliers became fair
game for collapsing defenses. As if
the loss of these three players were
not enough, top scorer and
rebounder John Gidding suffered a
knee injury just as he was reaching
his peak production. Gidding
missed only one game but he was
never the same player he was before
the injury.

Despite these problems the
Cavaliers still had a winning record
going into exams but the toughest
part of the schedule was still in
front of them. However, an event
that took place over semester break
radically changed the team's
attitude toward the coach. The
team informally polled themselves
and came to the conclusion that
Norm Carmichael was not a duly
elected captain and that therefore
Coach Gibson had tampered with
the ballots. No one thought to ask
him about it and this suspicion
grew into distrust. As a result, for
the final month of the season many
members of the team were skeptical
about every thing the coach said and
some paid more attention to fault
finding than playing.

In the search for a team leader,
John Hill was inserted after break.
Hill had been playing very well in
practice and had earned his starting
berth. But misfortune was not
finished and Hill sprained his ankle
prior to playing Maryland and
twisted it during the game and he
was not able to play for the
remainder of the season. And so the
team entered the toughest part of
their schedule at half strength and
distrusting the coach. The result
was too easily predictable as they
lost nine of their last ten.

After the final game all the
distrust and anxiety came to a head
as John English openly criticized
Mr. Gibson at a press party in
Charlotte. The following day
English and Kinn stated that they
would circulate a petition which 9
of 11 players would sign calling for
Gibson's ouster on the grounds of
incompetence. At this point, the
team was faced with a dilemma.
Who could they support? Their
friends or their coach. They held
three meetings in Charlotte to
determine their course of action.
The upshot of these meetings was
that no further public statements
would be made except through
Chip Case and Mike Wilkes. Upon
their return to Charlottesville, the
players submitted a public apology
for their actions at the tournament
and a list of grievances to Athletic
Director Steve Sebo. It is important
to note that it was simply a list of
complaints and that it did not
advocate firing the coach.

Upon receipt of this list Mr.
Sebo began his investigation with
conferences with each player. After
gathering the facts, Mr. Sebo
conferred with his advisers and
decided that Mr. Gibson would be
retained as head basketball coach.
In order to air any complaints the
players held, each team member
was invited to talk with the
coaches. What they discussed
during these meetings is not a
matter of public record, they were
team problems and they were for
the team to settle. An important
result of those conferences was
clarification of the captain
question. As it turned out, Mr.
Gibson was entirely innocent of
any wrong here. What was perhaps
the root of the players mistrust
turned out to be a counting
mistake.

It is this reporter's opinion that
Mr. Gibson can hardly be blamed
for this season's losing record in
view of the number of injuries. No
coach can be expected to make a
winner out of a team as badly
broken up as the Cavaliers were this
year. As for the players' grievances,
they undoubtedly had some valid
complaints which the coaches will
have to adjust to. The fact that no
one asked about the captain
question could indicate that there
should be more open
communication between players
and coaches. In regards to Kinn and
English, they were asked not to try
out next year not solely because of
their conduct at Charlotte but also
because the coaches did not feel
they would fit into next year's
team. Concerning the status of their
scholarships, Coach Gibson and Mr.
Sebo assured this reporter that any
financial commitment the
University made to these athletes
will be upheld. As far as The
Cavalier Daily diatribe goes, no
athletic coach has to jump when
Ted McKean says jump. And as far
as this reporter can determine, a
detailed explanation of why certain
players are no longer here would be
in poor taste, moreover it is simply
none of the public's business. In
short it is this reporter's opinion
that a man should not be
condemned until he has had a fair
chance to show what he can do.
Coach Gibson had his team this
year, but it was taken away through
no fault of his own and the same
thing happened last year.

In conclusion, there has been an
open and frank exchange of views
between player and coach and they
are ready to give each other another
chance. For the fans, all we can do
is let the matter rest. Any further
bickering back and forth will
accomplish nothing useful. We open
at home next year against VMI on
December the twelfth. It sure
would be nice to see an
open-minded crowd of about
8,000.