SWNID readers not blessed to live in Cincinnati may not have heard, but Dr. Zimpher has delivered to UC basketball coach Bob Huggins, hailed as the "winningest coach in UC history," an ultimatum: by 2 p.m. EDT either resign for $3 million, be fired for $2 million, or work in another university job until 2008 for about $3 million.
Huggs will announce his decision at 2 p.m., just minutes from now, but we don't need to wait to weigh in. First, his choice seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? Second, what Huggs does is really not as interesting as why Zimpher did what she did.
First, the only reason this seems to be a big surprise is timing. Huggs was told months ago that his contract would not be renewed, and he was given the opportunity to resign then. He opted to serve out his contract as a lame duck. So it's no shock that Zimpher decided to raise the stakes to get him out, clearly what she wanted and expected in her first action. Why she waited as long as she did is the only mystery here. She can only be blamed for underestimating Huggs's desire to stay.
I say the wait is the only mystery because it's clear why Huggs had to leave Zimpher's UC. The university has an image problem--or more accurately a reality problem--that Zimpher is trying to shed, in part by following up on plans made before her administration, in part with bold initiatives like firing UC's most popular figure.
UC's image is "urban hoodlum." That's been manifested in various ways:
- The campus is surrounded on three sides by a gritty, run-down neighborhood (the north end has remained really nice).
- A nearby commercial district, "short Vine Street," has become a crime center.
- "Cinco de Stratford" had until this year amounted to an annual beer-soaked student riot on a nearby street.
- The campus itself has suffered for years with an impersonal, institutional, confusing and un-customer-friendly ethos, communicated by both the physical facilities and the attitude of many faculty and staff.
But worst of all has been the basketball team. Huggs has been famous for recruiting players with past academic problems and, more importantly, criminal issues. He's offered his work as redemptive (and SWNID endorses redemptive efforts, though cautioning that NCAA basketball is an ineffectual savior). But the truth is that the results have been mixed. Players have been charged, convicted, and dismissed from the team. Some have just disappeared. And ironically enough, the players' academic program of choice has been criminal justice.
It looked as if the best outcome for Huggs's players was that they could use their incomplete degrees so that they could serve as their own legal counsel at their criminal trials.
And then there's Huggs himself. For years he was notorious for angry outbursts in games and at practices. Those seemed to disappear after a heart attack; apparently his cardiologist suggested some links between stress, anger and coronary disease. But just when we thought we had a new Huggs, he was arrested for DUI. Finally, after Huggs was forced to take some time off for counseling and such and had returned sober, one of his assistants was arrested for DUI.
Right now Zimpher is overseeing projects that are rebuilding the UC neighborhood. When these are completed, the Clifton area may well become the most attractive urban neighborhood in Cincinnati, a place that resembles some of the hipper areas of America's biggest cities. The campus is getting a major facelift too. And new programs are in place to attract and retain the best students in the area (consult Son of SWNID, who refused such an offer, for details). Presumably Zimpher is also working behind the scenes with the Cincinnati Police to reduce crime problems: Cinco de Stratford didn't happen this May, after lots of pre-emptive police work.
So dismissing Huggs was maybe the only remaining step. But you can't say that it was a surprise. Zimpher has a plan for the whole university. She says this in public all the time. It explains her firing Huggs. She should be believed.
Now, I move to another area of personal incompetence: basketball. Ted Gregory and other aggrieved Bearcat athletic supporters should quit griping. Here's why.
First, Huggs was already gone. His contract was not renewed. His departure today accelerates the rebuilding process.
Second, my friends who do know basketball tell me that Huggs had big limits as a coach. He recruited individuals and trained them to play as individuals. They were talented and well trained, so they had a measure of success. But just a measure: the Bearcats could win in Conference USA and make it through a round or two of the NCAA, but they could never manage the Big One because they were outplayed by teams that played like teams. And now that they are leaving the mediocre Conference USA for the Big East, the truth would be on display throughout January and February.
I agree with my friends. Born and raised in Indiana, I know enough about basketball to affirm what they say. To wit: name the great passers at UC under Bob Huggins.
So don't cry, UC fans. Look across town to Xavier, or across the country to Duke or Stanford. You can build a team with hoodlum-athletes. But you can build a university with, among many other things, scholar-athletes. That's the Zimpher plan in brief.
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