CHICAGO -- An open rebellion by the Univerity Of Illinois Chicago Circle basketball team was made public Thursday when school officials disclosed that there is a strong possibility the entire basketball program could be scrapped.
At a hastily called news conference, UIC basketball coach Tom Meyer, the son of Depaul coach Ray Meyer, said, 'My basketball players at a secret meeting last March 30 demanded that I resign or they would refuse to play for me.'
Meyer had left a meeting comprised of team players, Athletic Director Bill Rohtzheim and Vice Chancellor Richard Ward, where all parties had been negotiating a settlement to what many of the players referred to as an 'impossible situation.'
Meyer, accompammied by attorney Ken Denzel, appeared at a near West Side resturaunt, where he accused university officials 'of bargaining in bad faith and breaking a promise that they would not discuss the problems with the news media.'
'A secret meeting was held on March 30 instigated by a former player,' said Meyer. 'The players complained bitterly that they were not getting academic support from me and because of my failure to communicate with them were doing poorly in their studies.'
Ward said, 'The only reason we called the mews media in was to explain the background of the issues after a story appeared in the student newspaper on Wednesday.
'There is a strong possibilty we could disband our basketball program but there is nothing that would make us fire Meyer, even though his current two-year contact is coming to an end.'
Rohtzheim noted, 'We thought we were on our way to a possible solution earlier Thursday afternoon when Meyer suddenly got up from the table and announced he had a prior engagement.'
One of the three players who appeared at a university-called news conference following Meyer's news conference said, 'It looks like we took a step backwards.'
The player, who did not want to be identified, said 'under no circumstances will we play for Coach Meyer next season and if the university drops basketball we will not feel short-changed because it is our feeling that Coach Meyer has refused to sit down and talk to us, has not supported us and has refused to treat us like student athletes.'
University officials said no scholarship will be taken away from any player.
Although Meyer said he would 'not resign under any conditions,' he revealed 'as an alternative to try to settle the problems, I have been offered a one-year contract.'
'I feel I not only have been treated shabbily, but feel the entire coaching profession and its integrity is at stake if the players and the university officials are allowed to get away with this,' he added.
While the players indicated they were extremely unhappy with their academic shortcomings, Ward said, 'Very few of the players who have been in our basketball program the last six years while Meyer has been coach have graduated.'
