NCAA Basketball: Gregg Marshall and the “bully problem” in college hoops

The damning allegations regarding Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall are obviously horrific and he should be held accountable for his actions – but the report insinuates a greater problem plaguing NCAA basketball.

I will get straight to the point: Gregg Marshall should be fired after what was unveiled in Jeff Goodman and Stadium’s report of his misconduct at Wichita State.  More than 30 former and current Shockers admitted that Marshall was physically and mentally abusive, with at least two former players – Shaq Morris and Ty Taylor – putting their names and reputations on the line.

That, alone, should be enough to corroborate and verify the allegations and end Marshall’s time at Wichita State.

But the allegations further prove an issue that has ravaged college basketball for years that has yet to be amended, and it is an issue that not just Wichita State faces, but the world of college basketball has endured and continues to embarrassingly allow: the bully.

The bully archetype in basketball has been around for decades at the coaching level, and in more public cases, has been held accountable – to a degree.  Bobby Knight is undeniably the marquee example, but others, like Mike Rice, also fit the bill.

More often than not, the national outcry outweighs the possibility of those men keeping their jobs.  There is obviously nothing wrong with that, but the fact that these issues last so long in individual cases – and even arise in the first place – should be something completely unavoidable.

And for the “everyone makes mistakes” or “everyone deserves a second chance” crowds: stop that thought process.  Knight had more than 40 chances as a head coach to right the ship.  Rice had six before his actions caught up to him at Rutgers.  Marshall is on his 22nd chance.  These are adult men who carry the responsibility of molding and teaching young men in college – not just in basketball, but in life.

Too often do we, as college basketball fans, typically look away or laugh when we see this type of inexcusable behavior on the court.  We saw this during the 2019 NCAA Tournament with Tom Izzo after he screamed and lunged at Aaron Henry during a timeout and had to be forcibly restrained by Michigan State players.   It is easy to chalk this up to simply being “coaching,” and how Izzo’s coaching philosophy works, and that is exactly what college basketball fans did after that incident.

For what it is worth, Izzo is a completely different situation to tackle – his ignorance regarding the allegations of sexual and physical assault towards his program two years ago is enough to warrant questions about his professionalism and position as head coach.  But his actions towards Henry, as well as his fiery personality in general, begs the question: why?

I am not advocating for Izzo to be fired – far from it – but I am insinuating that this style of “coaching” is embarrassing and unwarranted.  While I cannot vouch for what they do behind closed doors, I also cannot recall any example of coaches like Tony Bennett or Jay Wright publicly needing to be restrained from their players, let alone yelling at them in the manner that Izzo, and other coaches, do.

And, if national championships are the standard for success, it is safe to say that that method of coaching has worked for Bennett and Wright far better than it has for Izzo.

I am also not inferring that Izzo’s philosophy is the root of all evil in college basketball, but that it is just one of the many examples of collegiate coaching that promotes the type of behavior that Marshall, and others, have been able to get away with for so long.  And we, as college basketball fans, must start holding those accountable.

The concept of “second chances” is also troublesome when you consider someone like Billy Gillispie, who has endured numerous allegations during his time as a college coach and has disgustingly survived each one.

His time at Texas Tech was marred by nearly 30 people leaving after his first year, with claims of physical abuse and manipulative control over both players and coaches surfacing almost immediately.  His first season at Ranger College – his first stop after Texas Tech – was forfeited due to ineligible players and other violations.

And yet, Gillispie is receiving another chance at the Division I level at Tarleton State.  This comes eight years after the allegations at Texas Tech, and just four after his opening season at Ranger.  This will be his 14th season as a head coach – and his 14th chance.

Clearly, firing a coach as renowned and successful as Bob Knight has done nothing to cease the “bully” in college basketball.  Likewise, removing one has central in the national spotlight as Mike Rice was has done nothing to change that archetype in the past decade.  Those types still run rampant, whether it be at a transitioning school like Tarleton State or a high-level program like Wichita State.

Wichita State has a golden opportunity to send a shockwave across college basketball.  Firing Gregg Marshall will not end the “bully” archetype that plagues the sport, but it will – or should, at the very least – create a ripple effect across the game.  If a Naismith National Coach of the Year winner and Final Four coach cannot survive these types of allegations, no one should.

Athletic administrations should also not be excused for any of their employees’ behavior.  Not only are the on-court charades that coaches like Izzo partake in embarrassing, but they also imply that there is something bigger.

Marshall fits this if his meltdown during a scrimmage against McGill University in 2018 is any indication.  The administration should be aware of these actions and take appropriate action against them.  If players can be held to such a standard, why are coaches not?

This is why the “bully” archetype in college basketball needs to end.  Again, if national championships are the ultimate measurement of success, the archetype has done nothing to prove Marshall as a coach.  Izzo has not won a title in 20 years.  Jay Wright and Tony Bennett – the polar opposites of the archetype – have three titles between them in the last four years and are arguably the two best coaches currently in the game.

If the specifications made in Jeff Goodman’s article are any indication about the mental abuse Marshall put his players and assistant coaches through, it is not unfair to claim that this type of abuse is happening at other colleges across the country.  And, during a time in a person’s life where they are being molded for the future, that mental and verbal abuse – let alone the physical abuse – can be damaging and irreversible.

If college administrations truly do care about their student-athletes, they would make the decision to not turn a deaf ear to those athletes who suffer through these atrocities.  There has been a no greater opportunity for the administration to support its student-athletes against abusive and manipulative coaches than now, and Wichita State has the chance to initiate exactly that.

And if the Shockers decide not to fire Gregg Marshall, or if he is fired and lands another coaching job somewhere else, then it is time we have a real conversation about accountability in college basketball at all levels.