Chaos in ICC Baseball Program

[tornado]

Time to do a little followup on the ICC baseball situation....

recall, ICC baseball recruited kids from 1000's of miles away, Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas, etc...
they wanted to build a national powerhouse juco program....

BUT -- two assistants were doing all the recruiting, then came a few complaints about this tactic, but this happened after the recruiting class was already on campus......and so someone decided there was too much conflict and someone had to go....so the admins cut the assistants loose...
then most of the top players left as well.

I have talked with some who are close to the program and they are truly reeling...
ICC cannot beat anyone...
they are 0-26 -- a pretty astounding development given that their schedule isn't very strong...

so -- since many of our readers pay the taxes that support this school, this program, and these administrators and coaches who have turned ICC baseball into a joke....I thought it might just be time to bring this topic back up.........

[tornado]

You gotta feel for the kids who are playing at ICC...they are now 0-30..

Hey -- I have a quesiton....if Bradley was 0-30 in any sport whatsoever, would people stand for just canning a couple of the assistants and re-upping the head coach??
I kinda think not......

[jrish12]

You gotta feel for the kids who are playing at ICC...they are now 0-30..

Hey -- I have a quesiton....if Bradley was 0-30 in any sport whatsoever, would people stand for just canning a couple of the assistants and re-upping the head coach??
I kinda think not......

When those 2 assistants tried to overthrow the program and were insubordinate then yeah I could see that happening.

[tornado]

I think what has been made known is contrary to what you suggest...

Kirk Wessler, and others at the PJS, says otherwise......just check those two links above..
Here are their points....

-that the "overthrow" or mutiny you mention happened as a result of the players' requests and only AFTER the two assistants were fired and gone did those players "mutiny" and bolt......the coaches were NOT responsible

-the head coach abandoned his proper duties, and if there was any inkling of the assistants "taking over" it was because they were required to -- even forced to by the head coach's dereliction of duties...
"Kelley then turned his attention to other duties, which include running ICC’s fitness center, and ceded control of the baseball program to his aides, Till said.

When the players arrived at ICC in August, no workout uniforms were available, and Kelley did not attend the first practice..
Other complaints by former assistants and players primarily focused on Kelley. They said he blocked their use of ICC indoor facilities in favor of other varsity teams and classes, ignored e-mail inquiries from NCAA Division I coaches interested in the players, and failed to arrange for the players to be fed on some road trips.

Till, unpaid as a volunteer assistant, said he and McCarty, ...bought players’ meals out of their own pockets.

...the entire team boycotted a practice, “to show (Kelley)
“They didn't see Kelley around, so they came to the guy they thought was in charge because I recruited them,” Till said. “But I didn't have control over anything.”

it is pretty clear the unpaid and minimally paid assistants were only doing what they felt they had to for the well-being of the scholarship student athletes...they knew
the kids were all going to leave if they didn't do what they were doing -- they were trying to save the entire frikking program then got canned for doing exactly as they were told to do.

[tornado]

Here's a comparative situation....
UIS (University of Illinois-Springfield) just started a baseball program up FROM scratch...they never had baseball before and this is their first year...

as you might guess -- with no history, no familiarity, and few scholarships (D-II) -- they were barely were able to land a class of kids to play this year -- and I am not saying they are good -- like I said they have every reason to be as bad as ICC and be 0-30 but that is NOT the case -- they actually are a whole lot more competitive than that!

They are not totally hapless as the ICC guys are....
they have won 5 games, and have been very, very close in at least (a couple runs or less) a dozen of their losses.....
They have kids who hit .370, they average 8 hits per game, and have a couple good pitchers (one is 4-1 with 2.90 ERA!)
...and their entire roster is made up of freshmen (16 of them - many from right around here) and a couple juco transfers since they have NO returning players -- this is the first year ever of their baseball program.
Brimfield's Adam Unes has been one of their best hitters -- as a freshman Unes is hitting .256 but has 15 runs scored & 17 RBI in their 29 games.