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Pastimes : College Football: Nits, Gators, Bruins, Vols - Whoever! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nittany Lion who wrote (7533)	1/27/2003 1:18:36 PM
From: MythMan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 11146

By David Jones Nothing pretty about watching a coach ratchet himself into desperation mode. And this is Jerry Dunn’s third time around. Though, it’s never been quite this ugly. It's a few minutes after 6 p.m. Thursday night and Penn State's men’s basketball coach is fielding questions on his weekly radio show, Nittany Lion Hotline. Lots of them. Which is stunning enough in itself, because very often almost no one is interested enough to call this show. This time, though, the Lions have started the Big Ten season 0-4 and are coming off arguably the worst performance in Dunn’s eight years in the top job. A fair-to-middling Michigan State outfit has just seal-clubbed the Lions the night before in East Lansing by the gruesome score of 70-36. It is Penn State's second output below 40 points of the season. Dunn’s troops, looking directionless and forlorn, scored 11 points in the first half. Listeners seem to have been attracted by sheer outrage. If nothing else, it's good radio. One caller asks Dunn about the possibility he might step down because his team is not getting it done. The coach responds: "Your definition of getting it done and mine are different, so I’m, not even going to answer that question." Asked about what his definition of getting it done is, Dunn responds with a tried-and-true defense PSU players outstanding graduation record over the course of his tenure: "I consider, first of all, bringing guys in here who can be successful in the classroom and not just playing basketball. ... Because if you’re just being successful with basketball and they’re not getting it done in the classroom, I’m not so sure if that’s what Penn State is all about." It goes on like this. The final caller asks with just a minute left in the program about the Pennsylvania Quakers, an Ivy League team -- one that may not offer merit-based scholarships -- that bludgeoned the Lions 62-37 in November: Penn gets it done in the classroom and on the court, asserts the caller. How come we can’t get it done like they get it done? I have a feeling in the classroom, they’re really getting it done. Dunn answers: "I think you’re really talking about two different situations. And I don’t think a minute is long enough to justify anything I could say. But I would really encourage you to really check into those situations." Exactly what this cryptic comment means is up for speculation. The radio show is over. But the one on the Jordan Center floor must go on. And it’s a mess. Overall record of 5-10 on the heels of 7-21 last season. The five wins all over teams weaker than No. 230 in the 327-team Division I Rating Percentage Index. Four of the losses by 20 points or more. The weakest RPI rank in the Big Ten. Once again, the second-lowest attendance in the league, bettering only Northwestern, a private school with an 8,000-seat gym. Those who believe Penn State is losing a lot of money on this program, however, are mistaken. The Big Ten television deal and split shares of NCAA tournament money take care of all league members handsomely. From Penn State's viewpoint, lost revenue is not the problem; embarrassment is. And if you think what you’ve seen from an armchair or a Jordan Center seat is unsightly, you ought to get a peek into what’s going on inside a program in a death spiral. The players do not believe in the system. Two have quit. A third had to be coaxed back after Christmas break. Parents of at least three others have written athletic director Tim Curley. They complained, citing Dunn’s arbitrary methods and an inferiority complex that breeds a never-wrong outward demeanor. But none can speak out loud for fear of retribution. According to two different player parents who spoke with me but wished not to be named, the departure of sophomore forward Daren Tielsch in November and junior guard Jamaal Tate in December had very little to do with nebulous reasons given publicly and much more to do with Dunn’s coaching methods. Both were happy with Penn State as a school, the parents said, but both were miserable playing for the basketball team. At least three more transfers are imminent, the parents said, if Dunn is not removed at season's end. The kids are not convinced the offense will work, one parent told me. And they don’t respect Jerry because of the way he treats both the players and his assistants. That amazing 11 points in the first half at MSU by a Penn State team not without talent speaks volumes to that end. The attack consisted largely of running the shot clock down to :05 before the casting of a desperation heave. Twice before, Dunn has faced near-insurrections from his team and challenges to his job. In 2000, he saved it with an otherwise meaningless upset of No. 4 Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament, allowing a subsequent run through the postseason NIT. In 2001, a last-second win over Michigan in the same tournament prevented his demise and two subsequent wins in the NCAA tournament catalyzed an improbable 5-year contract extension. Dunn’s Big Ten winning percentage now stands at .358 (43-77). Lop off his first year, in which he finished 12-6 with players ingrained in the system of predecessor Bruce Parkhill, and its .304 (31-71). There is displeasure among a small bank of basketball-savvy university trustees. There is a rumored but unconfirmed buyout clause after this, the second season of the 5-year deal signed in 2001. Yet, there is no guarantee Penn State will kick Dunn upstairs to an assistant athletics director spot even if this season’s acrid taste maintains. That’s because Penn State is among the most politically correct of a notoriously PC genre--the university community. Appearances are everything at major colleges. And firing an African-American coach is never good PR. The only question is, will Dunn as Bobby Williams did at Michigan State when he was fired as football coach in November play the race card if he feels a buyout is imminent in March? Possibly using an outraged friendly black trustee as a public messenger? That would be a real desperation move. First, because Dunn could be tossing away a cushy desk job at PSU from which he could comfortably retire. Second, because Penn State would likely back themselves up by hiring another black coach, someone like James Jones of Yale who’s already whipped Dunn twice on his own court. After all, there are plenty of qualified black coaches out there. It just may be that the current one isn’t among that pool. Regardless, Penn State appears to have a prickly decision to make in the near future. One it has, amazingly, not had to make in decades--the possible removal of a revenue-sport coach. Not that revenue will have much to do with it.