Here's the official word...

http://www.ajc.com/sports/kennesaw-state...63877.html

I have mixed emotions ... I wish the guy the best, as he's one hell of a person. But it was probably the right move based on performance. In any event, the train has left the station & we're now entering a new era at KSU.

The other question is, Why are there no releases on the University Site or the athletic site? It is as if this is being covered up.

The other questions is, how hard is this going to hit KSU? While I believe we needed to get rid of coach Ingle for performance, this academics thing creates a whole new can of worms. Now Tony gets to take us down with him. As a college coach it is partially your job to make sure that you recruit the right kids and then keep up with them and their grades while they are attending. This loss of more scholarships (plural) could really come back to bite us in the rear end. Not only that, but it poses the question who is not going to be eligible next season? Because they sited a failure to improve academic performance as an issue.

Now there are those who will mourn Ingles loss and those that will celebrate, I myself am a little happy to see him go but sad that he had to do himself in this way. That being said who is going to take the Torch next? Is it going to be the Belmont assistant? (I hope not. No offense to Belmont or its coaching staff, because it is phenomenal, however Belmont and KSU are two very different situations for recruiting and academics. The environment that a private school tends to create allows for far more control of players, and their academics. It also creates a different kind of interest from players.) And who is going to get to do the hiring? with an AD search committee out, will it be too late to bring in a good coach? Or does Whitlock make the decision and hire Matta as the head coach for a few years till the ship is righted and reassess things later?

These are just a few questions that come to mind as I read that AJC article and think about how this situation might play out. If anyone has any insight please let us know.

As always here is to a new future and one that continues to get better, LETS GO OWLS!

Color me very sad. As someone who saw Ingle take the program from the ashes of Division 2 basketball I find it very disheartening that people would actually be happy that he was fired. He won our school a national championship. Regardless of what he has done while D1, he deserves our respect for that. Again - we don't announce the jump to Division 1 without that championship in my opinion. It may have come eventually, but not at that time.

Ingle is a great man, a great husband and father, and he will be sorely missed in the Kennesaw community.

You can argue that he should have or should have not been fired based on performance, but if what the article says is true about the academic issues occuring frequently then you cannot argue his dismissal. The loss of scholarships will be tough, but I could see a young assistant from a BCS school becoming your coach. There is a lot of promise at your program.

The academic issues (loss of a scholarship) wouldn't be a problem if we were 14-6 instead of 6-14. The administration should just come out and tell the truth. We weren't winning enough games, combined with some off the court issues.

Here is the official release:

http://web.kennesaw.edu/news/stories/ken...ll-program

(03-07-2011 04:30 PM)KennesawBasketball Wrote:  The academic issues (loss of a scholarship) wouldn't be a problem if we were 14-6 instead of 6-14. The administration should just come out and tell the truth. We weren't winning enough games, combined with some off the court issues.

I tend to agree. I would speculate that there may be a clause in the coaches' contracts that permit the University to fire them "with cause" without paying the final year. If cause presents itself, you certainly go that route as a less expensive option.

That said, I hope that the University never takes a "win at all costs" mentality, and ensures that the college is -- first and foremost -- growing its academic reputation, followed closely by its athletics. May they never confuse the two.

Has Kennesaw ever fired a HC before?

Another thing: When did KSU stop using the word "Hooters" in connection with its athletic program?

I didn't like the performance on the court the past few years, but Ingle is a good guy. No one can take that away from him. It's sad when anyone loses their job. Was it the right call and right time? I think so. Start new and give the new AD a clean sheet instead of trying to fix what wasn't working.

Real reason is performance no matter what they say. If we were chomping through the ASun with a tourny trips it wouldn't even be a question. We'd find the resources to correct the off field issue. I'm surprised we didn't find the resources anyways but that's an internal thing and a shame for the players that needed help or structure and didn't get or take advantage of it. It rolls down hill, if the team doesn't win... the players care less and less about elligibility, grades or playing time. Happens at all levels.

I think what pisses me off is the high horse that Whitlock (interim AD) is spouting from in his press releases. He is trying to use this firing as a platform to be hired as the permanent AD, and he is running Ingle into the ground to accomplish his goal. Plain and simple, Ingle should be celebrated on his way out, not used as an example to intimidate the other coaches. Whitlock is being a prick.

KB, while I don't disagree that Whitlock is mishandling this situation. I also don't think that this is a power move on his part either. The AD position is going to go to a guy who has AD experience with football. Whitlock should know that he has no shot at that position. Therefore I would chalk this up to an inexperienced man in a leadership role. The fact that he has thrown Tony under the bus is completely unprofessional. However, I will say that he is only interim AD. Most people who take that title are actually associate AD's not coaches in the department. He is also mid season in his sport. To top it off, he was probably given the task of getting the department in order for the next AD. This means cleaning house if necessary.

Tony Ingle has now spoken and admitted that he was partially to blame for the : AJC

Quote:Ingle said he didn't at first fully understand the APR requirements, nor did the compliance director at the time. He said that in his effort to compete at the Division I level -- the Owls rose to D-I only two seasons ago -- he took chances on some recruits that he shouldn't have.

"We didn't have a good grip on it," he said. "So, we just made some bad decisions early. I'm the one left holding the bag, but I've been known for riding a horse until it dies and then dragging it across the line. It wasn't all my fault, but I take full responsibility."

From this I would say that not only does Ingle but the Compliance Director and Mr. Waples need to take some blame. It is not completely Ingles fault, but as a head coach this does fall on your head. If you make bad recruits and kill your APR then it is your fault and you deserve to go. However if the compliance director is still hired then we need to see a change there as well, or at least some proof that Tony was better informed then he claims to have been.

So in conclusion, it was the right move to clean house and take care of the only program not meeting standards in the athletic department before the new AD gets here. However I am disappointed that Whitlock has made Ingle the villain and attacked so harshly a dedicated employee of our University.

Yeah but consider the situation ingle was put in when we went D1. We had exactly 1/2 scholarship player in the squad because the NCAA declared the rest of the team D1 ineligible (they were D2 eligible but not D1). People are surprised that we have attrition problems? Ingle was trying to put some semblance of a team on the court and our compliance and academic support was non existent. You had assistant coaches scheduling classes for players instead of academic support and you wonder how some things slipped through the cracks.

What is done is done, and I am not shocked that Ingle was fired because the results that were expected were not there. But there is no excuse for the pompous manner in which he was let go. He was and is a great man and representative of the university and Whitlock is treating him like nuclear waste. Whitlock is using ingle to promote his own authority which is embarrassing.

It was time for him to go. I do think he should've been given a made up job in the athletic dept. at KSU until he chooses to retire, as for you guys he did do alot with getting you into Division I. Athletic Directors at this level just don't know how to properly handle things like this.

(03-08-2011 09:06 PM)Buccaneerlover Wrote:  It was time for him to go. I do think he should've been given a made up job in the athletic dept. at KSU until he chooses to retire, as for you guys he did do alot with getting you into Division I. Athletic Directors at this level just don't know how to properly handle things like this.

Agreed.

On a different note, he won't hurt. He knows a lot of people like Billy Knight and Pete Babcock so friends look out for friends. I am just sad that he didn't realize that poor recruiting and lack of discipline would cost him his job. Anytime your "best" player can cuss you out before the season even starts and there is no penalty, that shows a lack of control.