Les alerts Bradley of impending lawsuit over contract

[crossbones]

you are wrong crossbones -- he also led them to the 1986 NCAA and the only win BU would have in the NCAA in a 50 year span from the mid-1950's to the 21st century, and also won National individual awards & All-Conference awards for his individual play...

I'm talking the Sweet 16; which is the furthest advancement since 1955.

Of course, maybe he should have spent more time taking reading comprehesion classes at Bradley, since clearly he doesn't understand his own contract according to the administration.

[amckillip]

People on here crack me up, look stuff up before throwing out accusations and one of the greatest players and fundraisers BU's ever had. JL's contract is structured EXACTLY like the previous UC-Davis' coach and what Coach Les is asking for is EXACTLY the same thing every other coach in the country gets when they are fired. Bradley is clearly trying to do only what they want and is using litigation as a way to avoid paying KSU and JL what they are due. They have taken two routine tasks and made BU look horrible. This absolutely will greatly impact our next coaching hire.

[crossbones]

People on here crack me up, look stuff up before throwing out accusations and one of the greatest players and fundraisers BU's ever had. JL's contract is structured EXACTLY like the previous UC-Davis' coach and what Coach Les is asking for is EXACTLY the same thing every other coach in the country gets when they are fired. Bradley is clearly trying to do only what they want and is using litigation as a way to avoid paying KSU and JL what they are due. They have taken two routine tasks and made BU look horrible. This absolutely will greatly impact our next coaching hire.

Now, I agree that BU owes Les a fair shake, but how do you figure they owe KSU anything? The contract was between Coach Ford and Kent St, not between Bradley and Kent St. Coach Ford may be liable, but that is his responsibility and his problem, since he didn't take care of it before accepting the job and letting Bradley announce it before he informed his former employer and negotiating his exit from that contract.

Hopefully, having a $1M lawsuit hanging over his head won't interfere with his coaching.

[cpacmel]

JL's contract is structured EXACTLY like the previous UC-Davis' coach

Do you honestly think the previous UC-Davis coach's contract was structured like this:

Years 1-3 --$125K per year

Year 4--$250K

Year 5 --$275K

So a 100% raise after year 3 is pretty common place for UC-Davis?

[Dub]

Unless I'm mistaken, Les is in the Bradley Hall of Fame. Bradley, with its hard bargaining and animosity with Les, is redefining how much of an honor it actually is to be a member of that society.

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

I'm a lawyer and from a legal standpoint, when a contract is breached (here, by Bradley), the non-breaching party (Les) has a duty to mitigate damages.

For example, if you're a landlord and a tenant moves out with 6 months left on the lease at $1000/mo, you can't simply demand $6k. You have a duty to find a replacement for that tenant and make up as much of the difference as you can.

You can't sit on your hands, as Les contends he could have here. And you can't sign a tenant to a $200/mo lease, unless that is absolutely the best you could do.

Les had a duty to search for other employment and mitigate the damages owed to him. He did that, and found a job, and structured a contract so that it doubled after three years. Was $125k/yr the best he could get for those first three years, or did he neglect his duty to Bradley? Did he negotiate with UC-Davis in good faith? Simple question, and if the structure of this contract (ie, doubling after 3 years) is as unusual as it seems at first blush, Bradley can and should refuse to pay Les' demands.

Is it worth the bad press? That's harder to say. I think Bradley will win this, but the outcome of this lawsuit will probably be buried in page 6 of the sports section. But if you're talking six figures I think it's worth fighting.

Edit: Can you tell I haven't logged in for 5 years? Awesome.

Thank you for adding this post. It seems like far too many people started posting without reading an article.

[SFP]

This case will most probably be settled before reaching the court room. BU has more to lose then JL in this so I see no reason for the admins to keep losing the PR battle over this. They took a hard stance and JL has not flinched and I doubt if he will. I hope the admin offers a fair deal and puts this all behind. Onward and forward. I'm sure the resources spent on this could be better spent on other issues.

JL-1 BU admin-0

[sousaman2089]

Thank you for adding this post. It seems like far too many people started posting without reading an article.

I usually listen to lawyers when it comes to contracts/money/laws. I would like to see if other people on here can poke holes in his statement

[Bravesfan]

People on here crack me up, look stuff up before throwing out accusations and one of the greatest players and fundraisers BU's ever had. JL's contract is structured EXACTLY like the previous UC-Davis' coach and what Coach Les is asking for is EXACTLY the same thing every other coach in the country gets when they are fired. Bradley is clearly trying to do only what they want and is using litigation as a way to avoid paying KSU and JL what they are due. They have taken two routine tasks and made BU look horrible. This absolutely will greatly impact our next coaching hire.

Absolutely! And you don't think Coach K, Matt Painter or Brad Stevens would not do the same thing if they moved onto another job (at a much higher pay scale of course)? It happens all the time. Plus let's remember that UC Davis is not a haven of great college basketball so of course their coaches salaries will not be anywhere near the scale of even some of the more established mid-major programs, let alone the big time programs.

[Bravesfan]

Do you honestly think the previous UC-Davis coach's contract was structured like this:

Years 1-3 --$125K per year

Year 4--$250K

Year 5 --$275K

So a 100% raise after year 3 is pretty common place for UC-Davis?

I believe it. UC Davis is a bad basketball program from a mid level Division I conference. The can't even hold a candle to the likes of Pacific U from their own conference! Plus they are the type of program that probably won't land a blue chip type of coach anytime soon, but they see that Les had taken his previous team to the Sweet 16 and several post season runs. So they are probably happy they got someone with Les's experience for such a bargin salary.

[AZ BU Fan]

C'mon Posters. Tell Us What You Really Want!

SATIRE ALERT

Surprised none of the 'Pro' crowd hasn't suggested the most appealing solution to the contract messes:

Send GF back to KSU and rehire JL!

Party like its 2005-6!


Now I'll go back to my nap...

[aggie6thman]

Is it normal for the UC-Davis head coach to also be a lecturer at the school and draw a separate salary?

Thought I would stop by and answer this question for you. It is normal for coaches at UCD to also act as teachers. The problem that we recently ran into with our old coach was that after coaching and teaching for almost 9 years, he was a tenured lecturer. That made it a lot harder to get rid of him.

I believe that our new Chancellor is trying to change this model and hopefully she is successful.

[aggie6thman]

Absolutely! And you don't think Coach K, Matt Painter or Brad Stevens would not do the same thing if they moved onto another job (at a much higher pay scale of course)? It happens all the time. Plus let's remember that UC Davis is not a haven of great college basketball so of course their coaches salaries will not be anywhere near the scale of even some of the more established mid-major programs, let alone the big time programs.

You are right we are not a haven of great college basketball, especially since we have been Division I for 4 years. We were a pretty good Division II school and won the men's tournament in 1998. Gary Stewart, the outgoing coach, was the one who oversaw the transition from Division II to Division I, including 4 years where there was no possibility of postseason play.

UC Davis understands that we are not going to hire the next Roy Williams or Bill Self, but I think that Les will be able to do well here. He has ties to the area as a former NBA player and has already brought the program a breath of fresh air.

The athletic department just cut 4 sports to save money, bringing us down to 23 ICA sports, way too big if you ask me. It wouldn't surprise me if more cuts came this year after another disastrous state budget was passed, something Illinois and California have in common.

Overall, a new chancellor and a yet-to-be-hired athletic director could bring some big things for UC Davis. We just have to wait and see.

[AE Braves Fan]

This case will most probably be settled before reaching the court room. BU has more to lose then JL in this so I see no reason for the admins to keep losing the PR battle over this.

That is a rational, reasonable take on the situation. But we are not dealing with a reasonable administration (IMO). It is amazing that it already got this far, and she is quite stubborn, so I really wouldn't be surprised to see this drag on.

IMO we have people in charge that think about themselves first, and Bradley second. And that's a real shame.

[wily coyote]

SATIRE ALERT

Surprised none of the 'Pro' crowd hasn't suggested the most appealing solution to the contract messes:

Send GF back to KSU and rehire JL!

Party like its 2005-6!


Now I'll go back to my nap...

As Larry the Cable guy would say, "Thats funny I don't care what you say, that's funny."