University of Virginia Library

Gerry Explains Controversy

The following was presented to
The Cavalier Daily yesterday
afternoon by Bill Gerry, a member
of the varsity basketball team. This
is yet another view concerning the
controversy surrounding Coach Bill
Gibson.

Perhaps I've waited too long,
but I feel there are certain
questions concerning this past
season's basketball team that
should be cleared up before the
academic year is concluded. Mr.
Ryan, with his recent radio
broadcast and its printing in this
paper, attempted, in vain, to give as
clear a picture of our team and its
difficulties as was possible for
someone not directly involved. Mr.
Ryan endeavored in his writing to
give the real story, the truth, and
the facts concerning the basketball
controversy. For those interested
enough to concern themselves with
the University's basketball future I
will at least try to clarify certain
essential items.

CD Coverage

Immediately after our return
from the ACC Championship in
Charlotte, N.C., a reporter for the
CD presented a series of articles
examining Coach Gibson's abilities.
He listed several ball players names
whom he felt could have left the
University or discontinued playing
here primarily because of Mr.
Gibson's coaching tactics. That
writer did not actually present any
explicit quotations stating their
reasons for not playing, but he did
"imply" that the coach may have
had some influence in their
decisions. Not being perinally
acquainted with every discontented
soul he mentioned throughout his
series, I cannot explain all their
so-called grievances, but I feel that
the student body should
understand that several of those
ball players were in my opinion
psychologically questionable,
immature, and in several cases
physically unfit to play decent
basketball although they may have
been high school phenomena. "My
opinion" may naturally be
disregarded... but every article
concerning this issue to date has
also been unadulterated opinion.

Captainship Issue

The captainship issue has also
seriously concerned many people. I
would like to clear this "mistake"
up once and for all. Chip Case
received the highest number of
votes from the team. That is to say
that his name appeared more often
than that of any other player.
Norm Carmichael received the
second largest number of votes.
Since the majority of the players
voted for co-captains, Chip and
Norm were elected. In our own
casual ballot after the election was
presumably settled we felt that
Norm had not received the second
highest number of votes. The team
failed to include three or four
players not present during that
mock election as well as the votes
of the three coaches. Our
presumptuous conclusion, in my
opinion, seriously affected team
morale and attitude from that point
on. No one questioned the Coach
about the matter; one co-captain
was hurt and the other put in a
haul ... there he stayed, there we
stayed.

Continuous Injuries

As Mr. Ryan did establish in his
review of the situation, the team
was seriously disheartened by
continuous injuries in the early part
of the season. Chip Case injured his
knee. He played, but only on
occasion did he look as impressive
as he was in pre-season workouts.
He struggled through practices and
games however, often times
bringing the crowd to its feet, but
he wasn't "all there". Losing Buddy
Reams left us with no experienced
forward so Carmichael had to play
all the harder and longer. In the
guard department, besides losing
Chip Case, Tony Kinn did have
mononucleosis, and it considerably
affected his stamina and all-around
performance on the court. There
went backcourt experience. There
went the team's high hopes. We
were one of the strongest teams in
the ACC, then we were shaking.
Out of twelve ball players, six of
them experienced and four of those
either injured or lost, we didn't
have what we had started off with.

Gibson Has

I feel that Coach Gibson has his
faults. Don't we all? Should he be
persecuted for something out of his
control? As Mr. Ryan stated, he
doesn't feel obligated to answer any
derogatory remarks concerning his
character or coaching abilities. Why
should he? Those writers who have
pressed the issue, at least the
majority of them, ave never
spoken to Mr. Gibson personally
about facts but have been content
to use tumors and bits of
information which certain of the
ball players might be whispering,
irregardless of what sport they
might be involved with.

This year's team could have
been better if we hadn't had the
injuries, if we hadn't taken our
"mock election" as certain but
questioned it. It's over and Coach
Gibson is still here. I feel that the
students concerned with this issue
should at least face the facts that
much of what they have been
reading is not plain factual truth.