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During his three-plus years as USF men's basketball coach, Jessie Evans was guilty of numerous "secondary" NCAA violations, the school's attorney said Monday night.
"When you have multiple NCAA violations, even if they're minor, the problem you have with the NCAA is called 'loss of control,' " attorney Michael Vartain said. "That means they don't trust that your coach is accountable for the program."
He added, "It's long gone when a coach can just do X's and O's. He has to have good compliance skills. You can't wait till the things fall apart."
Vartain declined to describe the violations in detail, but he said some current and former players had expressed misgivings about Evans' program.
"I have no comment," Evans said of the allegations. "Anything they discuss will have to go through my agent and my attorney."
His attorney, Dan Siegel of Oakland, said, "There's never been any evidence of NCAA violations. They basically told Jessie to request a leave or you're fired. Now that we're talking about filing a lawsuit, you're hearing a lot of unsubstantiated allegations."
<center><p><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/11/SP2FVHAQA.DTL" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Tom FitzGerald
Chronicle Staff Writer
tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com
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Earlier in the day, when asked if he thought USF was treating him fairly, Evans said, "No, and I say that without any reservation."
Evans said he was given an ultimatum by athletic director Debra Gore-Mann on the day after Christmas: either make up a story about a personal problem and take a leave of absence or get fired "for cause." Vartain said the leave option was presented to Evans as a way to save his reputation.
Evans said he had "no idea" what Gore-Mann meant by "for cause." His contract, a standard one for the profession, stipulated that he could be fired "without cause" if his record didn't measure up or "for cause" if he were guilty of repeated NCAA violations or some sort of moral or criminal violation.
That's a huge distinction. In the former case, the school would owe him the balance of his contract or a negotiated settlement. In the latter case, his salary and benefits would end immediately.
Evans, who said he suspected that Gore-Mann had been determined to fire him since she took the job in 2006, said he was surprised to be told to take the leave or the ax, and he walked out of the meeting after a few minutes.
A day or two later, Evans' attorneys, based in Indiana, agreed to the leave. In the temporary agreement, both sides agreed to strike the phrase in the letter about his need to "attend to pressing personal matters."
Gore-Mann's original letter to Evans - a copy of which Siegel sent to The Chronicle - spelled out the option: "You request a leave of absence for the remainder of the season to handle a pressing personal or family issue, or other reason." He would retain his salary for the rest of the season, along with auto and housing assistance, university benefits and a ticket to the Final Four.
Each side obviously had a different view of the choice he was given.
"The effort that was made by the administration at USF was to require Jessie Evans to tell a lie in order to not suffer termination," said Siegel, whom Evans retained recently and who did not participate in the temporary agreement. "I think that was completely improper."
Evans' agent, Gary O'Hagan of Minneapolis, said, "When we asked what the cause would be, USF refused to tell us. In either case (personal problems or a "for cause" firing), that's potentially very damaging to his career.
"My query is: Who at the University of San Francisco or who in the state of California or who in the United States thinks this is a proper way to treat an employee? This type of treatment should be a concern for coaches at every level."
Gore-Mann's letter to Evans said: "Jessie, this decision could not come as a surprise to you given the Performance Improvement Plan, the final letter of warning, and other communications I have had with you."
Gore-Mann could not be reached for comment, but Vartain said there were ample reasons to fire Evans over and above his 45-57 record.
Vartain said the numerous problems in Evans' program were documented in the coach's performance assessment; the "letter of warning," which was sent earlier in the school year, and "at least three or four" letters sent by Gore-Mann over the previous year.
"When student-athletes have a limited time on campus and improvement is not happening according to the program laid out by the athletic department," Vartain said, "you have to make a decision as to what's best for the athlete right now."
Vartain said the school was not operating in a self-serving way by offering Evans the leave. "I don't see it as anything but humane," he said. He added, "The only reason he was given the option - which he took with advice of counsel - was that he could look for a job. Even now, we're not looking to drag this out. But the school is confident of its position."
Evans had been involved with a major NCAA investigation at his previous school, Louisiana-Lafayette. A standout player was found to have played while academically ineligible, resulting in two years' probation and other penalties for the school. Evans said it didn't happen on his watch, but ULL assistant athletic director for compliance Jessica Clarke told The Chronicle the student played while ineligible in the spring of 2004, while Evans was still the coach.
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