Bond, Shoeneck & King, you’re not in Kansas any more.
The controversy surrounding Oregon women’s basketball coach Jody Runge escalated in seriousness over spring break, as the University and athletic director Bill Moos hired an independent law firm to analyze the fragile situation between the coach and her players.
The Kansas-based firm of Bond, Shoeneck & King is widely known for its investigations into collegiate athletics. They have conducted inquiries at Florida State, Notre Dame, Minnesota and Cincinnati, among others. Moos said he expects to hear the firm’s report today.
He also said he wanted to be sure of the facts surrounding the case, and said hiring the firm was “the best way to go about it.”
“I wanted an independent review of the facts regarding our women’s basketball program,” Moos said. “They’re compiling the information right now, so I hope to hear from them [today].”
The small team of lawyers has been conducting player and coach interviews since last Tuesday. However, seniors Angelina Wolvert and Jenny Mowe, along with redshirt junior Edniesha Curry, refused to meet with the lawyers.
“We didn’t force anybody to be involved,” Moos said. “It was strictly voluntary.”
Mowe and Wolvert may have been protecting their future careers. Both players are currently preparing for the Women’s National Basketball Association predraft camp in Portland. The WNBA draft will be held April 20. Neither player could be reached for comment.
Runge met with Moos March 20, in a conversation Moos called “open and candid.”
“I expect it will be the first of many as we work toward deciding on the best course of action,” Moos said afterwards.
Runge was unavailable for comment Sunday, but told a Portland television station last week that she is “not worried” about the investigation.
“I think this is very injurious to our program, to have this cloud hanging over it,” Runge told KOIN.
Runge is attending the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association convention in St. Louis this weekend.
The Oregon women’s basketball program has been thrown into turmoil since March 4 when eight players met with Moos to voice their displeasure with Runge’s coaching tactics. Now, it seems, the winningest coach in Oregon women’s basketball history may be placed on probation or even lose her job.
Since that meeting, the Ducks won their final regular season game against Oregon State, but lost to favored Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It was the eighth straight Big Dance appearance for Runge and the Ducks.
Runge has led the Ducks to a 160-73 record in her seven seasons at Oregon. She has won two Pacific 10 Conference championships and has twice been named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year.
Yet Runge has clashed with Oregon’s administration, as well as her team and the media, at times during her seven-year tenure. Just this season she had a contract dispute with KEZI over a weekly television show, suspended Wolvert for not shaking hands after a game and wouldn’t let the Ducks wear their uniforms at a practice. Earlier in her career she clashed with administration over her contract and her coaching staff when she let an assistant coach go.
Still, it is unknown which players met with Moos three weeks ago. Wolvert, for one, isn’t taking sides.
“I am very neutral,” Wolvert told The Oregonian last week. “I don’t have an opinion on what is happening, and I don’t want to fuel either side’s fire.”
Moos will most likely announce a decision on the future of the women’s basketball program sometime this week.