Stir over Thompson's exit lingers at Ball StateBy Marlen Garcia, USA TODAY
9/27/07
MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball State men's basketball players say the saga of former coach Ronny Thompson is far behind them.
"In the locker room, I don't think anyone's brought it up," junior forward Anthony Newell says.
Yet it's far from over. Thompson resigned abruptly July 12 after 15 months and a 9-22 record; he was replaced by former Lehigh coach Billy Taylor last month. On his way out, Thompson, who is black, leveled a variety of charges against the university, including some of racial hostility, that could leave a scar on the school of 16,828 students in east-central Indiana.
Conversely, Thompson's credibility and his viability as a Division I coach are at stake. The son of former Georgetown coach John Thompson Jr. and brother of current Georgetown coach John Thompson III faces denials from top Ball State officials of many of his charges. He attempted to substantiate some charges by surreptitiously audiotaping conversations with Ball State athletics administrators. Minor NCAA rules violations by the staff, allegations that those violations were repeated and an ongoing investigation of more serious allegations, including one that he paid someone involved in the recruitment of a player, also could sour potential bosses. In addition, a potential showdown is brewing over money Thompson may owe the university for walking away from his five-year contract or the university may owe Thompson as remaining salary.
In his resignation letter, Thompson wrote he was leaving because of a "racially hostile work environment." A copy of the letter was given to USA TODAY by Thompson's Washington, D.C.-based attorney, Matthew D. Keiser of Arnold & Porter.
Thompson alleges he was harassed by administrators, including supervisors — allegations contradicted by Ball State athletics director Tom Collins and President Jo Ann M. Gora. "We did everything in our power to support Ronny," Gora says.
Nevertheless, Thompson's allegations prompted Ball State to hire former Indiana Supreme Court Justice Myra Selby to review Thompson's allegations of a hostile work environment, and the process Ball State used to report the minor NCAA rules violations and alleged violations. Her review is ongoing.
Through his lawyer, Thompson declined requests for interviews. He is living in the Washington area with his family, Keiser says.
The final straw for Thompson, his lawyer says, was finding racist notes in his office and the offices of his assistant coaches and secretary. The notes were found June 24 and contained three words: a racial slur along with "cheaters" and "liars."
"This was a hate crime," Keiser says. "It intimidated and scared Ronny and his family, and they feared for their safety."
School officials said this month that the university police's investigation of the notes had reached a dead end, with no suspects identified. The guilty party probably had a key to the offices or the doors were left unlocked, as there were no signs of forced entry, school officials say.
University police received assistance from Indiana state police.
"Everyone thinks we just planted the letters, anyway," says former basketball assistant Bill Howze, who like Thompson is out of work. "We're never going to find work in college basketball."
Lawsuits loom. Thompson's contract calls for him to pay $182,000 for terminating his contract, and the "university is deliberating about the way to proceed," Ball State spokesman Tony Proudfoot says.
Thompson wrote in his letter of resignation he considers his departure a termination without cause by the university because of the "intolerable circumstances created by the university." Under the "termination without cause" contract guideline, the university is required to buy out the remaining four years of his contract.
Additionally, former Ball State women's volleyball coach Randy Litchfield, who thinks he was fired in December 2006 because his assistants reported NCAA rules violations committed by Thompson's staff, filed a tort claim against the university, effectively giving notice he intends to sue.
Big hire for both sides
Thompson was hired to rejuvenate an increasingly indifferent fan base April 4, 2006, replacing Tim Buckley, who went 10-18 in the last of his six seasons. Ball State, a Mid-American Conference member, hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 2000. The team's prominence peaked in 1990 when it advanced to the Sweet 16.
Thompson, 38, played at Georgetown for his father from 1989 to 1992 and became a college assistant in 1993 for Oregon. He later worked for Loyola (Md.), the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and Georgetown. When he was hired at Ball State, he was an Arkansas assistant.
Becoming Ball State's coach was not only a big break for Thompson but significant for the school. The Thompson name is legendary and was expected to be a draw in a basketball-crazy state.
But Thompson had a rough start. The staff committed secondary NCAA rules violations from May 15 to July 21, 2006, by briefly attending players' open-gym practices at a time when players are off-limits to coaches, according to a report filed by the school with the NCAA. Players' attendance at strength and conditioning workouts was reported to Thompson, but the workouts, under NCAA rules, were supposed to be voluntary.
Ball State foundered last season, setting a school record with the 22 losses, while Thompson's brother took Georgetown to the Final Four, evoking memories of their father's success. In 1984, John Thompson Jr. led Georgetown to the NCAA tournament title, becoming the first black coach to do so.
After Ronny Thompson's arrival at Ball State, the Cardinals and Georgetown agreed to a two-year series. Last season, Georgetown won in Washington; this season's game, still scheduled, probably will be a sellout in Muncie.
"It's another road game that will hopefully prepare us for conference play," says Thompson III, who otherwise declined to comment on his brother's dealings with Ball State.
Ronny Thompson "comes from a family used to winning," Gora says. "I think he had a hard time (with losing). I had no problem with the season."
The 2006 rules violations came to light when women's volleyball assistant coaches wanted to set up a gym for a camp but saw the men's basketball team playing, with coaches there, says Litchfield, the former volleyball coach. The volleyball coaches sought guidance from administrators to gain access to the gym, Litchfield says, and were told to report the practice to Ball State's compliance staff.
On June 4, 2007, Ball State reported more men's basketball rules violations to the NCAA, noting an assistant coach attended a voluntary workout and the entire staff observed some voluntary weight lifting in May. One assistant, Howze, says he admitted to being in the weight room; other staff members denied the charges. The school reported to the NCAA: "In light of all the facts and circumstances, the university believes these denials to be untruthful."
"They've said we're liars and cheaters," says Howze, who adds he was in the weight room to make sure the players knew about their summer-school classes.
"The allegations were false," former assistant Troy Collier says. "This is how we were treated internally."
Keiser, Thompson's lawyer, says the investigation earlier this year was launched because a witness noticed a tall, bald black man in the gym and assumed it was Thompson. Keiser calls that a faulty racial identification.
"What Ronny wants is his name cleared," Keiser says. "The university conducted a campaign that has maligned Ronny's character and reputation by filing a false report."
Coaches taped conversations
Thompson kept notes and secret recordings of some face-to-face conversations with athletics department officials, a revelation that surprised Collins. "Normally you tell somebody if you're recording them," Collins says.
Howze says some men's basketball coaches made recordings to protect themselves. "When I talked to the police about (racist) notes in the office, I thought they were trying to frame us," he says. "I don't trust a soul here."
Keiser played excerpts of a recording for USA TODAY in his office. He said it was a conversation between Thompson and Ball State director of athletics compliance Kyle Brennan as they discussed the alleged second set of violations.
"I was trying to convince Tom (Collins) you weren't in there," says the person identified by Keiser as Brennan. "I believe you, but it doesn't matter. I was trying to tell him last night that you gotta f——— swallow it. You just gotta take it."
In another conversation, the person identified as Brennan tells Thompson about an administrator who used racial slurs. Brennan declined a request to be interviewed, citing university policy that requests go through university spokesman Proudfoot, who declined to allow Brennan to be interviewed. Proudfoot says allegations made by Thompson are part of Selby's independent review.
On May 24, Thompson initially told Gora his concerns about his treatment, according to a follow-up e-mail Thompson sent to Gora on June 2 that was provided by Keiser. Gora says she asked Thompson to detail specifics in a formal complaint in order to launch an investigation. She says Thompson never followed through by filing a formal complaint until the day he resigned.
Keiser says his client's June 2 e-mail to Gora constituted a formal complaint. "For them to say they couldn't do anything until Ronny filled out a form is ridiculous and disingenuous," Keiser says.
In the June 2 e-mail, Thompson wrote his authority had been "undermined" since his arrival and he told Gora about derogatory racial comments he had heard made about black people in general and about Thompson and his staff. "Please do not put me in a position where I am forced to take action that will cause this ignorance to go public," Thompson wrote.
Thompson's camp insists the university came down harshly on him and his staff in its June 4 NCAA violations report as retaliation for Thompson's complaints of racial hostility in the June 2 e-mail.
"The assertion … assumes that we can pick and choose whether violations are reported to the NCAA," Proudfoot says in an e-mail response to a question from USA TODAY. "When we find a potential infraction, we investigate promptly to determine if an infraction occurred. If so, we report it, as we are required to do so."
Gora said in a telephone interview, "Even though (Thompson) has left, we are investigating now what he put in his letter of resignation."
On June 26 — two days after the racist notes were found in the basketball office — Thompson met with Gora and Collins, and Gora sent a follow-up e-mail to Thompson in which she acknowledged a request from Thompson to be released from his contract. "Neither Tom nor I want to see you leave," she wrote in the e-mail provided by the school.
She also told Thompson she had asked for an external investigation of the NCAA violations audit in May that led to Ball State's June 4 report to the NCAA — that's the investigation now being conducted by former judge Selby.
But Ball State is examining more than Thompson's claims. Based on information the NCAA's rules enforcement staff received, the association, in a letter dated July 11, requested that Ball State investigate:
•Whether Thompson tried to recruit a player from another university and whether he provided financial assistance to someone involved in the alleged recruitment. According to Keiser, Thompson says this is false.
•Whether associate athletics director Pat Quinn, the person initially informed of the recruiting allegation, was reprimanded by Collins for trying to follow up. Quinn says he was not reprimanded. "I reported what had been given to me to athletic director Tom Collins, but I was not reprimanded," he says. "I think it was erroneous (information). Whoever reported it didn't have fact."
•If Thompson rewarded players for improved grades by giving them Nike shoes. According to Keiser, Thompson says this also is false.
•If, in fall 2006, Thompson asked Gora to fire Litchfield, and Gora instructed Collins to do so. Collins and Gora deny the charge. " 'Absolutely absurd' is what I told the NCAA investigator," Gora says, adding Thompson never made the demand. Collins says Litchfield's contract was not renewed and calls it "a personnel matter."
The examination of these questions — being conducted for Ball State by Bond, Schoeneck & King, the Kansas-based law firm many NCAA schools have used for similar internal investigations — is ongoing.
Thompson seen as aloof
After Thompson's departure, some Ball State boosters were critical of him, painting a picture of an aloof, uninterested community member.
Thompson's backers say he was focused on establishing order in a program in disarray.
"I think they had a problem with an intelligent African-American male who wanted to change things around," Howze says. "It's Indiana. It's one explanation I can give why much of the community was very cold to him. People didn't want to talk to Ronny. I don't think the university ever rallied around him except for a couple of people."
Collins and Thompson's supporters agree on this: Thompson's top priority in the short term was recruiting, not schmoozing.
"I knew he needed to do that," Collins says. "We were kind of putting a plan in place together for this year to get him more connected to the community."
As for the climate on campus, guard Peyton Stovall has been outspoken in defending Ball State. He says except for a racial slur he heard in town several years ago, his experience has been positive.
"I don't think it's a racially hostile place," says Stovall, a senior from Lafayette, Ind. "If it really were that bad, I'd be out of here so fast. I can't be around ignorant people."
Ebony Strong, a junior who is the president of Ball State's Black Student Association, says she is encouraged by the way the school is handling the new coach, Taylor: "They're making sure he won't experience anything like what Ronny did."
Taylor, who is black, says he carefully looked into racial issues with Gora and Collins when interviewing. "It was something," he says, "I did not take lightly."
Contributing: Erik Brady in Washington, D.C.
www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/mac/2007-09-27-ballstate-cover_N.htm