So, it has been about 10 days since the announcement that set, the generally placid, world of W&M Men's Basketball on its collective ear. I was, as were most W&M alumni and fans, taken by complete surprise both by the suddenness of the announcement and the complete lack of clarity on the "why" of it all.

What I immediately realized, after signing in to this board last Wednesday, was just how deep the emotions brought out by this decision were and how quickly rational thought and honest debate had been pretty much completely tossed out the window by many posters. To support my point, in the first 10 days since the announcement, there have been 26 separate threads started (this is officially #27), comprising close to 100 pages of comments (that's a good size small novel) on this one topic.

Because of the general tone of the comments and the obvious deepness of the emotions involved, I just decided to remove myself from the discussion, for a while, so as not to say something, in the heat of the moment, that, looking back later, I might regret and just wait till things cooled down a bit.

Having kept an eye on the situation, it is apparent that most posters have gotten a chance to catch their breath and have found a bit of calm. It appears that many people have come to the same conclusion as I have over this week. That is:

WE DON'T KNOW MUCH.


The lid on the information on this decision is about as tight as the top on a new jar of pickles. So far, no one on either side of the issue is talking (that, in itself, surprises me, as usually, in my two decades as a reporter, there is always someone who wants to talk on any story.)
During the week that I decided not to comment, publicly, I did spend time contacting many of my former colleagues in the media, to see what they were hearing. Truth is, they didn't know anything either. That is why the editorial pieces by David Teel and Paul Woody (both of whom I admire, greatly) were just repetition of the info from the original press release, because, other than David coming up with Tony's contract, nothing else has shaken loose.

The only thing that I was able to find out, that wasn't already common knowledge at the time, was that the blowback/negative feedback was TREMENDOUSLY higher than the administration had anticipated. It wasn't just W&M alumni and fans, but also basketball reporters, coaches and other industry people, all shocked by the decision. From what I have gathered, they had anticipated some negative reaction, figuring as much as 60%-40% negative. What they got was much, MUCH higher.

What concerned me about how this board responded, wasn't the negative response, Tony is a beloved coach, but how 100 pages of content could be produced with no real information or facts to base those comments on, many of a very unflattering nature.


As far as I have been able to compile, here is what we know (and it isn't a long list):

Samantha Huge dismissed Tony Shaver as Head Coach of the Tribe on March 13th.
Tony's current contract had approximately 4 years remaining to run and could be renewed automatically.
The College owes Tony 1.7 million in Buyout dollars.
4 Top players have filed for entry into the NCAA Transfer Portal.
The players were made aware of the move before the announcement.
Jon Holmes has been retained as interim Coach.
Cam Brown has, to date, not requested to reopen his recruitment.

That is, pretty much, all the hard facts that we have.

Okay, so we also know that WHENEVER the Facts find the light of day, It will show that the reason that Tony was let go will NOT be that he is a WHITE MALE! Holy crap...


Everything else is pure speculation until someone makes an announcement or statement to provide us a little more enlightenment.



Now, what we DON'T KNOW is a completely different ballgame.

We don't know why, officially, Tony was let go.
We don't know why it was done when it was. Was there a reason for the quick hook at the conclusion of the season.
We don't know what would have caused an early employment Review.
We don't know why Tony wasn't allowed to coach the team he had built for 2020.
We don't know if players were truly at odds with their head coach.
We don't know if there was dissension on the team.
We don't know if some players were considering a transfer if nothing was done.
We don't know if any of the four star players will actually go through with their transfer.
We don't know if a new coach had been previously pinpointed.
We don't know if said coach might have gotten cold feet after seeing the huge negative response.
We don't know if the salary to pay the next coach is actually going to be $700,000.
We don't know if a handful of big donors had anything to do with the decision.
We don't know if this was all Huge's decision or if it involved other elements that have yet to be revealed.


I think you get the point here, it's tough to throw someone, anyone, under the bus, call people names, fall into character assassination, spread rumors or repeat speculation, with no facts, with hope that repeating it often enough will make it true, until we get more real information.


I would just ask that we continue to discuss info that comes out, including hearsay, but unless we have actual facts to back up the info, let's not be too quick to just bury someone, on this board or in the Administration. As I said, sometimes you find out that it is tough to undo some detrimental statements after they are out there and the truth later proves it wrong.


I apologize for this ongoing rant. This board is still my favorite place on the internet, one I visit several times a day. It is my go to place for discussing my favorite topic, W&M Sports. I just don't want to see it get torn apart by pure emotion taking over for common sense.


I will leave you with these words of wisdom I got from a mentor, relating to posting on any medium, texts, twitter, Instagram, email, boards or any other manner.

Always read your post 3 times before posting.

The 1st re-read, check your spelling. It does no good to call someone an Idiot, if you spell idiot incorrectly. It sort of lets people know who may be the true idiot.
The 2nd re-read, check your content. The worst thing about the internet/twitter is that there is no good way to show emotion, vocal inflection. It is a fact that your brain moves MUCH more rapidly than your fingers, so make sure you actually said what you thought you said, before posting. You may find that an extra adjective/adverb might more clearly say the thought you were trying to deliver.
The 3rd re-read, decide if it really needs to be posted. Writing out a post allows you to vent your feelings and have your say, but after you are done, ask yourself, do I really need to say this? Do I feel better after writing it out and don't need to castigate the original offender or is the world going to be a better place after reading this post. Sometimes just saying nothing is the best answer.



That's it. I'm done. Let's hope for a successful conclusion to this "recent unpleasantness" and that our beloved program won't be set back by this move (I don't know if I can keep myself healthy that long...). Hopefully, the new coach will be a fantastic add to our Tribe Family.

Go Tribe!