Basketball Teams Left Coachless

by Nat Osborn & Justin Johnson

The basketball program has seen a number of coaching changes recently, due to what former men’s basketball coach Dr. Bill Dennison calls “serious issues” in the Athletics Department. Longtime women’s coach Tami Smialek recently resigned from her position, while Coach Dennison was fired from the basketball program and replaced by Bluefield College men’s basketball coach Tommy Brown, who resigned just a month after accepting the Covenant position. Interviews are scheduled with applicants for both positions.

In regards to the reasons behind her decision to leave the head women’s basketball coaching position that she has held for 19 years, Smialek simply said, “I choose to no longer work with [Athletics Director] Dr. [Brian] Crossman.”

Added Smialek, “I’m sure there’s a lot of things being dealt with [in the Athletics Department and] I don’t need to stir the pot [by saying more about the situation].” Smialek will remain on the college staff as an associate registrar.

Brown, meanwhile, quit just weeks after being awarded the men’s coaching job. “This was a tough decision to make. My wife and I love Covenant…The only negative really was our basketball experience,” said Brown.

According to Scott Raymond, Vice President of Student Affairs, the departures of both Smialek and Brown were due to systemic problems within the Athletics Department. “When Tommy resigned, when Tami resigned, it was just a belief that the college was not going to make the [necessary] turnaround[s] in sufficient time,” said Raymond.

“I was told that I would be able to use the Development Office, [and it] would help me out in fundraising [and] in all areas of the program,” said Brown. “And then when we get down to Covenant we find out that we will not be able to use the Development Office…to raise money for my assistant coach to come down.”

“What Tommy perceived is wrong,” said Raymond. “There are federal regulations and NAIA [National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics] regulations that give the context as to how Development and Athletics can operate together….what I specifically said [to Brown] was that over the next year, Athletics and Development will begin to collaborate a model of raising funds for athletics, not for any individual sport, but for athletics.”

According to Brown, his decision to quit was also influenced by larger issues. “We…saw that philosophically [we disagree]…my wife and I felt, like we wouldn’t be comfortable working there under the present environment. We feel it’s wrong that Covenant has three basketball scholarships, when the majority of the teams in the Appalachian Athletic Conference have six. Covenant is far better off financially than any other team in our conference.”

When presented with Brown’s complaint, Raymond countered that Covenant offers six scholarships, not three, for men’s basketball. “When Tommy makes that statement, I’m not quite sure what he’s talking about,” said Raymond. “How can anybody who’s been hired for two weeks come in here and make a philosophical judgement like that based upon information that I think he has misread from the context…I’m not doubting [Brown's] integrity…He’s probably thinking about a different issue.”

According to Brown, some members of the Covenant community have been suspected of encouraging his departure, most notably Tami Smialek, suspicions that he says are baseless. “Tami has always encouraged me to come to Covenant,” Brown told the Bagpipe.

In response to these claims, Smialek replied, “I think Tommy Brown was, and still is, a perfect fit for Covenant College…I would love to see him come back and really see the men’s program something everyone could be excited about.”

According to Raymond, the decision to replace Dennison as men’s basketball coach was made long ago, and not in response to the performance of the team. “Was it because there was a 7 and 22 season? No, absolutely not,” said Raymond. The problem of finding someone to coach that would also teach a P.E. class is the issue that began the search for a new coach, Raymond asserts.

“A year and-a-half ago we invited several candidates to campus…[and] we identified Tommy as the coach, we offered him the job back then. [Brown] said because of the timing for Bluefield he wouldn’t do that… Starting back again in November, December talking with Tommy, letting Coach Dennison know that we were engaged in that process [of hiring a new coach],” said Raymond.

“Right now we have…close to 45, 46 interested candidates [for the basketball coaching positions],” said Raymond. Plans are being made to bring two candidates for each position on campus in the coming weeks for interviews and to allow them the opportunity to hold practices with the basketball teams.

Added Raymond, “If we don’t find the right coach, we have told the teams that we are not going to discontinue the teams, we will find an interim and will continue the search.”

“Right now we are still trying to recruit for the fall of 2002, and the recruits are asking, ‘you want me to go to a school that currently doesn’t have a coach?’” said Raymond.

According men’s basketball team captain, Andrew George, “In a lot of ways I feel like our heart has been ripped right out of us.” George added that at least one player will not be returning to the team because of these developments and another has “expressed significant doubts” regarding his return to the team next season.

These problems have affected even prospective students. “I have a friend who wanted to come out to Covenant College to be able to [get] financial aid, and he was hoping to get the bulk of that from playing basketball,” said freshman Joe Moon.

“He made contact with Dennison, and Dennison ended up not doing the recruiting, then he made contact with Brown, and Brown ended up not doing the recruiting. And so now he can’t come out and try out, so they can’t give him a scholarship…So he might not be able to come at all…He’s tried everything he can to work it out…with whoever he can, and nothing’s working out at all.” said Moon.