Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

[JDonAB92]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

A new president and new athletic director at Wheeling Jesuit this year. Two very successful basketball coaches at the school either leave or are terminated.

Is this a Tex Williams/University of Charleston situation with Sancomb? And when I say that, I don't mean that Sancomb committed the same exact violation as Williams did that forced him out.

It will be interesting to see what the reason for termination actually is. Most coaches could be fired over technicalities or minor mishaps if schools really wanted to do this. There are those NCAA violations that are secondary violations (that carry little to no penalty) and those that are primary violations. Secondary violations occur every year at all institutions. If Sancomb was fired for something petty, then I think some of the rumors about wanting to dump him for other reasons might be actually true. There are rumors on other boards that it was over his salary. Time will tell.

The truth will come out. Since it has legal implications it appears, then it will probably take quite some time before it comes out. Maybe not. But it is interesting that a successful coach and a popular coach among former players was let go

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

It's the frustrating part of D2. This could never happen at a big school and be kept quiet for even a couple days. There's no media pressure in D2 towns. The schools at this level unfortunately have far too much power over the small media outlets in these towns. Imagine Pitt firing a high-profile coach and not addressing it for days? They'd be crucified in the media.

Best thing WJ can do is get a new hire in there as fast as possible. Tough this time of the year but they'll find somebody -- and probably get all the PSAC coaches off campus.

[Columbuseer]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

Good points. If someone wants u gone, they can find a technicality to justify it. Assuming there are no bad facts, this seems like a move of desperation by the administration. They could have been in jeopardy or losing their jobs on another issue, so they were willing to take the risk of coach leaving. Wonder if we will ever know the underlying cause.

[boatcapt]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

Here is ncaa study on d2 athletic costs.
http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/...etics-expenses

Uses median instead of mean which is good
Design. Key points:
Athletic depts with football net expenses are 7.5% of institution's expenses. Median of $5.5m in 2012.

Median revenue with football is about 600k.
Without football it is 300k.
Athletic expenses rising faster than academic expenses.

This is before CTE, which could make football insurance costs unaffordable. Once someone wins a lawsuit then schools will be forced to drop football due to risk. BTW, you can get CTE without ever having a concussion. NFL PR is trying to frame the argument as " reduce concussions then no cte". Neurologists do not agree as it is repeated blunt force trauma which may or may not result in concussions. more study is needed in severity and number. They are see brain changes in pee wee players after one year in wake forest study. My point is that the risks will increase costs to make football unaffordable for a school. It is a dying sport just like college boxing teams which ncaa cancelled in 1960 ( some schools still continue as club sport)

AND you can get CTE from wrestling, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, basketball and cheerleading. In fact, you can get CTE from almost any activity that causes sudden stopping or impact of the head. Which sport or activity that little Johnny participated in "caused" his CTE? The answer is who knows. Kind of like me buying a Corvette, and two days later plowing it into a wall at 120 MPH and my family files a lawsuit for $10M against the brake manufacturer because they didn't stop the car before it hit the wall! Conveniently ignored in the law suit is the fact that I bought a car that would go 120 MPH, I actually drove it at 120 MPH and plowed it into a wall. Reason ambulance chasers will go after football is because that's were the money is right now...once they kill off football, they will turn their attention to another sport with the next deepest pockets...and then the next...and then the next until all the money is gone and students are left playing "NCAA darts" while wearing helmets, goggles and mouth guards.

Love the "symptoms" list for CTE. Apparently I have CTE! Quick, someone point me at a lawyer so that I can get some free money from my HS school district because CLEARLY them forcing me to play football and wrestle and are 100% to blame for my memory loss, difficulty planning and carrying out tasks, vision problems, muscle weakness and difficulty walking. BOATCAPT GOTS TO GET PAID!!!!

[boatcapt]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

Good points. If someone wants u gone, they can find a technicality to justify it. Assuming there are no bad facts, this seems like a move of desperation by the administration. They could have been in jeopardy or losing their jobs on another issue, so they were willing to take the risk of coach leaving. Wonder if we will ever know the underlying cause.

Any time you get a new boss, you run the risk of not seeing eye to eye with him/her. You can be almost perfect at your job but if you rub them the wrong way, they are going to find a way to get rid of you. This is especially true in management positions...and make no mistake, a HC is in a management position. If you don't tow the new party line with enough gusto, there is a good chance you will find yourself on the street and a new guy that better understands and supports "the big picture" sitting in your former office. Bosses almost always say they want to know what your think even if it's bad, but my experience is that most of them really don't...What they want to hear is "That's a brilliant idea boss. I'm behind it 100%!"

But in fairness though, I wonder how long Sancomb would keep a grad assistant on staff if the grad assistant and he didn't see eye to eye on how he was doing his job? You could probably measure that in minutes!!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

That's still a real gutsy move by a new AD and President to can (what sounds like) the most popular coach on campus. It's not like they were coming off a bad stretch or anything, either. He just won a conference title in a highly reputable league.

But, as always, there are two sides to every story. We haven't heard the WJ side yet (which, is actually kind of amazing).

From the articles I read, it sounds like his wife has a pretty good job in the Wheeling school district. I wonder if he'll uproot for another job next year. He will certainly get a lot of calls.

My early bet is on Kent McBride. He's had two years now of playing in front of 74 people in a 6,000 seat arena. The new president at Cal has cut athletic spending in half. He's in a division with the Yankees and Red Sox. His roots are down there. Seems like the right time.

[Columbuseer]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

If the issue was over resources for the basketball program, or micro managing the program, WJ may be challenged in getting a coach like McBride. I thought he was a great coach at concord. They gave west lib problems at their place. Most great coaches want the support and resources to be successful. Any rumors of moving to d3? That would cause coaches to bolt.

[Columbuseer]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

AND you can get CTE from wrestling...


Love the "symptoms" list for CTE. Apparently I have CTE! Quick, someone point me at a lawyer so that I can get some free money
... BOATCAPT GOTS TO GET PAID!!!!

If a lawyer wants to test you for cte, I would urge you verify he did not graduate from your arch rival school. The test can only be done post-Mortem! Lol :-)

[Moffat]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

Didn't he just run a basketball camp at the end of April? Wonder if the violation had something to do with that? I seem to remember a few years back that WLU had a problem with how the money related to one of their basketball camps was being administered.

That happened at WLU, as well. State legislative auditor got involved.

[Columbuseer]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

That happened at WLU, as well. State legislative auditor got involved.

Maybe that is it. Although WJ is private, maybe WJ thought they owned the proceeds to plow into other programs, while coach thought it belonged to basketball program.
Seems like a reprimand type thing, or don't do it again. However, given the visibility Sancomb as given WJ on the national stage, if I were admin, I wouldn't make it the hill I wanted to die on.

[HeavenontheHill]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

People talk about football being a "money loser"...particularly at the DII level. My question is are there ANY DII sports that are money WINNERS? I also wonder when people talk about the "expense of football" and point to the fact that there are 100 players that need to be equipped with expensive football equipment vice other sports that equip far fewer players with much cheaper gear. What they never factor into the equation that on a typical 100 player DII team offering the maximum 36 schollys, that means there are SIXTY FOUR players paying FULL tuition. That's a lot of coin coming into the school BECAUSE of football. ALSO, a lot of the 36 schollys are funded by private/corporate/alumni donations with this money again going back to the school coffers...so really, all (most?) of the scholly process is just a way to convert money contributed for athletics to academic purposes.

Problem is that no one on either side wants to do a TRUE cost analysis that includes all revenue and costs associated with a program. Much easier to make broad general assumptions like...100 players is a lot of expensive football equipment so football MUST be expensive...The football stadium PROBABLY costs a lot of money...and 36 schollys HAVE to cost a lot of money that MUST come directly out of academics.

If the issue was over resources for the basketball program, or micro managing the program, WJ may be challenged in getting a coach like McBride. I thought he was a great coach at concord. They gave west lib problems at their place. Most great coaches want the support and resources to be successful. Any rumors of moving to d3? That would cause coaches to bolt.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

Correct ... 36 is the max. And, the vast majority of D2 schools are NO WHERE near the 36 number. Most are in the teens.



Well, ... don't know where the rumors came from but they do play football in D3. Once half their basketball team bails in the coming week ... next year's team may resemble a D3 roster.



Off-topic: Has Bethany ever considered making the jump?

[boatcapt]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

All true...But for simplicity purposes, it is as if 36 players got full rides. But even though the player is getting an athletic scholly, the money from that scholly is going to the academic side of the house in the form of tuition. At the end of the day, the academic side of the house reaps the same amount of tuition weather it is from 100 football players or 100 "regular" students. The REAL question is would those 100 football playing students go to WLU if the football program was cut out? Those 100 football players contribute $704,000 to WLU each year in the form of tuition payments weather the source of the money is schollys, mom and dads savings account or via a student loan.

[boatcapt]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

Correct ... 36 is the max. And, the vast majority of D2 schools are NO WHERE near the 36 number. Most are in the teens.



Well, ... don't know where the rumors came from but they do play football in D3. Once half their basketball team bails in the coming week ... next year's team may resemble a D3 roster.



Off-topic: Has Bethany ever considered making the jump?

Of course...they have 24 players on their basketball roster so if half leave, they would be down to what a "typical" DII team has! Guess the real question is which half leaves?

Never heard even a wild a$$ed rumor or fan "speculation" about Bethany jumping to DII. It would be interesting if they did...Three schools within 10 miles (?) of each other.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Sancomb Out At Wheeling Jesuit

Yeah ... what is that? Do they have a freshman team or something?