Nine days after beginning its evaluation of the Oregon women’s basketball program, Kansas City-based law firm Bond, Schoeneck and King is still looking into the controversy surrounding head coach Jody Runge.
“All we can say at this time is that the process is continuing,” University assistant director of media relations Pauline Austin said Wednesday.
Oregon Athletic Director Bill Moos, however, has indicated that he expects to hear something from the law firm’s inquiry by the end of this week.
Bond, Schoeneck and King, nationally recognized for its handling of collegiate sports programs, began its investigation March 27 and has interviewed nearly 80 coaches, players, administrators and community members.
Moos hired the independent evaluation because of the turmoil surrounding the team. Eight unidentified players criticized Runge’s coaching methods and requested that she be fired in a March 4 meeting with Moos.
On Tuesday, Runge met with investigator Michael Glazier, one of the 100 most powerful people in sports, according to The Sporting News. Runge was unavailable for comment, but told The Oregonian that the meeting was “cordial.”
In her eighth season, Runge led the Ducks to an eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance last month. She has a .687 winning percentage, best of any men’s or women’s basketball coach in Oregon history.
She has said she is not concerned about losing her job, but is open to conflict mediation.
A memo written March 11 by Runge to Moos, obtained by The Oregonian last week, detailed the coach’s concerns about the future of the program.
“The events of the past week have caused me to both search my soul for the reasons that such a controversy is spinning around our program, and to reach out to my friends and supporters to seek solutions that will heal this rift in our basketball family,’” Runge wrote. “I am committed to active participation in a dialogue that will eliminate the conflicts within the program.”
In the memo, Runge asked that Daniel Close, professor of counseling, family and human services, be a neutral consultant in the dispute.
Close said Wednesday that he was briefly interviewed Tuesday by representatives from Bond, Schoeneck and King. He described the process as “a standard approach to mediating a conflict,” but does not know when the investigation will be resolved.
“I really have no idea what’s going on,” he said. “Right now, I’m trying to stay away from it as much as I can.”