Les alerts Bradley of impending lawsuit over contract

[amckillip]

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.

Buyouts are paid by the hiring school 99.9% of the time. The contract is technically between GF and KSU but in actuality it is so KSU gets some remuneration from the next school that hires him. If BU refuses to do that and GF has to pay that $1M how will the next coach look at the situation?

[amckillip]

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?

Yes, I actually read the article...

"Les explained in his email to McCord that his contract was no different than previous UC Davis coach Gary Stewart, and UC Davis had its reasons for how his contract was structured."

If for some reason that's not true, it will most definitely come out, but I don't think JL would say that to ESPN if were not true, so for now, I'm going to take his word for it.

[Bravesfan]

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.

Welcome to the boards aggie6thman! Yeah, I did not realize your team has been in Division I for only four years. But that's good for Les as the expectations won't be too high for him, at least initially. I think the first step is just getting the team competitive and at least making some sort of postseason tournament on a consistent basis. Hopefully in a few years they will be in a position to take a run at the Big Dance from time to time. Even some NIT appearance will be very good for your program.

Great to hear about your program from your perspective. And I think your post should put to rest some of the doubters on here who think the teaching aspect of Les's new position was fabricated only to stab Bradley in the back.

Good luck to your team and I look forward to seeing them in the Big Dance in the near future!

[Braves4Life]

Based upon my research Les is being paid approximately what the old coach was paid. With California's budget crisis and the fact that this is still a relatively new D1 program I think Bradley will have a difficult time proving that UC-D and Les purposely attempted to circumvent BU's contract. The rise in salary after 2 years makes sense based on these factors, IMO.

[algotrader]

What is with the entitlement? No one, anywhere, deserves to payment for work they did not do.

The students come first. Bradley needs to aggressively protect itself and its revenues (especially during the 2nd worst recession in history). Sorry Les, I shed not one tear about your hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars you think you're entitled to.


Cry more.

[crossbones]

Buyouts are paid by the hiring school 99.9% of the time. The contract is technically between GF and KSU but in actuality it is so KSU gets some remuneration from the next school that hires him. If BU refuses to do that and GF has to pay that $1M how will the next coach look at the situation?

How do you know that Bradley didn't figure that in giving him a generous contract that they expected him to take care of it himself? Or that it wasn't discussed between himself and Bradley in the negotiations and Ford understood that Bradley wouldn't cover it.

It seems like we expect Bradley to be responsible for what's in a contract (Les) and then also responsible for what's not in a contract (Ford). If this was important to Ford, he should have made sure it was in the contract. Either he totally blew the negotiation or there was an understanding between the parties that Bradley would not be responsible.

As far as it happening in the future, well, that depends on who they are negotiating with. I would hope that it is someone who with appropriate representation and will work through all the issues that are important to both parties, including any outstanding $1M liabilities. I would hope that occurred here, but you are suggesting that it didn't. What makes you think that?

[Future Walk-On]

I read some of the article...


QUESTION:

Is what UC-D is doing Illegal? I don't get why they can't play JL 1 cent as a salary for 3 years. It sounds smart as hell.


PS I also think it is cool we have added a UC-D friend to the board. We need a college check it page.

[amckillip]

How do you know that Bradley didn't figure that in giving him a generous contract that they expected him to take care of it himself? Or that it wasn't discussed between himself and Bradley in the negotiations and Ford understood that Bradley wouldn't cover it.

Because GF is being sued and the buy out would make it so GF wouldn't have a salary the first few years.

It seems like we expect Bradley to be responsible for what's in a contract (Les) and then also responsible for what's not in a contract (Ford). If this was important to Ford, he should have made sure it was in the contract. Either he totally blew the negotiation or there was an understanding between the parties that Bradley would not be responsible.

As far as it happening in the future, well, that depends on who they are negotiating with. I would hope that it is someone who with appropriate representation and will work through all the issues that are important to both parties, including any outstanding $1M liabilities. I would hope that occurred here, but you are suggesting that it didn't. What makes you think that?

If you can't see that what's happening here is extremely out of the ordinary I don't know what to tell you. (You can lead a horse to water...)

Coaching changes take place all over the country all year long and no other school seems to have problems. Our administration is either inept (didn't know the process when they fired JL) or indignant (doesn't care about the correct process nor the future), either way it makes BU look terrible. Before the change at the top BU was regarded as a classy and well run school, now put your ear to the ground and see what people are saying... Or just read ESPN and other sports sites, it's pretty obvious when both ends are suing BU.

[LG281]

Before the change at the top BU was regarded as a classy and well run school, now put your ear to the ground and see what people are saying... Or just read ESPN and other sports sites, it's pretty obvious when both ends are suing BU.

Quite frankly, I could care less what ESPN or other sports sites are saying.

May I remind all of you anti-admin folks that there is more to Bradley University than the men's basketball program. As others have stated, BU has a responsibility to the tuition paying students to be as financially responsible as it can be. If they have reason to believe that they have been slighted, they shouldn't pay. Saving a couple hundred thousand dollars is a big deal to a school like BU.

And as for how this effects future coaching hires...I fully expect Geno to either win big and move on leaving a GREAT position for someone equally (or greater) as exceptional OR that he has marginal success at best and is removed in, oh say, nine years by a new president and athletic director - at which point the previous admins alleged gaffs won't mean diddly squat.

Chill out.

[BU RICK]

I support the Bradley Administration in how they handled the change of men's basketball coaches. I support the President and Athletic Director in how they handled and are handling the change. Go Bradley

[Da Coach]

http://eye-on-college-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/30583998

[crossbones]

Because GF is being sued and the buy out would make it so GF wouldn't have a salary the first few years.



If you can't see that what's happening here is extremely out of the ordinary I don't know what to tell you. (You can lead a horse to water...)
.

Maybe the blame belongs on Ford and not the administration. That's my point. I agree with you on the Les situation, but why do you think that Bradley acted improperly as opposed to Ford?

[sousaman2089]

I have been informed that ESPN was contacted by and received a copy of the letter from a third party who is not connected to Jim Les, but is connected to Bradley.

So would someone at Bradley release this so they could look better on the PR front?

If so, that seems like classless, yet smart, thing to do.

[TheGuy]

What is with the entitlement? No one, anywhere, deserves to payment for work they did not do.

The students come first. Bradley needs to aggressively protect itself and its revenues (especially during the 2nd worst recession in history). Sorry Les, I shed not one tear about your hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars you think you're entitled to.


Cry more.

A contract is binding no matter how much you don't want it to be. It's not a matter of thinking he is entitled to that money....he is entitled to that money. You want BU to get aggressive then maybe you should be petitioning for them to negotiate contracts better so these things do not happen.

[CubbieBear]

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

Our administration is either inept (didn't know the process when they fired JL) or indignant (doesn't care about the correct process nor the future), either way it makes BU look terrible.

Absolutely correct SFP & amckillip---settle it now (out of court)--pay him--and move on and bury this mess