The firing of Lakeland College Rustlers women’s basketball head coach Chris King isn’t sitting well with players.
The Rustlers announced a coach change in a statement on Dec. 5.
“Chris King is no longer the head coach,” read the statement. “Work is underway to hire an interim head coach for the team. The Rustlers resume play in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference on Jan. 17.”
The news comes after King was put on administrative leave on Nov. 28 after a former player allegedly filed a complaint with the college.
King has bled green and gold for 17 years and is the most high-decorated coach in the program’s history.
King’s players were completely dumbfounded by the news. Many even stated they’re done playing basketball at Lakeland due to the way the college handled the investigation process, which they are calling an injustice.
“Chris being gone … I don’t know if I’m even coming back. We don’t know as a team, I don’t know as an individual, and they don’t know as a college,” said newly-acquired Rustler Andria Stitt.
The players stand behind their coach and went as far as leaving hundreds of post-it notes with messages supporting King throughout the college.
Fifth-year Rustler Sarah Dacuycuy, third-year Susan Ayaa and Stitt spoke about their coach’s situation on a recent episode of the Shaun Newman Podcast after the Source initially broke the story on Dec. 5.
Rustlers open up
The 40-minute interview tells the tale of a devastated basketball program left in the dark until it was too late.
“This happened in September and the investigation process was trash,” said Stitt on the Shaun Newman Podcast. “We didn’t get a say, and everything blew up at once. In my opinion, it was a very one-sided investigation and I don’t think they thought about how it would affect the team.”
“It was a slap in the face and the communication was really (bad) for the program,” added Dacuycuy.
“From suspension to him being terminated, he wasn’t allowed to speak to us. We’ve been practising but he hasn’t been allowed in the gym.”
The three discussed the incident that snowballed into King’s release, stating it was unfair and out of the blue.
“Our team made a collective mistake. Just like any other team, if something happens, you have to run for it,” said Ayaa.
“We were at practise and yes, we had to run,” explained Stitt. “We were all tired and upset. It got to a point where someone went down. That happens in athletics. It was not anyone’s fault and we never want to see that happen to anybody, nor do our coaches.”
“They aided to her while we walked to the other side of the gym. A couple minutes after that she was able to get up and walk out of the gym. Everything seemed OK. We all talked to her, made sure she was OK.”
Stitt explained things seemed to go back to normal after the September incident but, there was clearly more at play.
“Four months later, we’re here,” said Stitt. “What are the false accusations and what’s been said? We were there, no protocol was broken, no one was disrespected or neglected. I don’t know how this case went from zero to 10.”
A Kingless future?
With so many unanswered questions, the majority of King’s players are unsure what the future holds or if they’ll continue to play for Lakeland College.
“People don’t understand how much this is affecting us on a personally, not just through basketball,” said Dacuycuy. “Everybody needs to know the truth. It’s just lies and lies, and that’s not what this program is about. Chris built us into the best people we know we can be.”
“Chris’ goal for us isn’t just basketball, it’s about making us better people and about our futures,” added Ayaa.
The Source continues to investigate the situation at Lakeland College. The Source can confirm the investigation into coach King was done by a third-party organization.
Since it’s an outside investigation containing personal information, the details of the investigation will likely never see the light of day.
“He’s been coaching for 17 years and he’s built this program from the groud up,” said Dacuycuy. “It doesn’t make sense how one thing could give such a harsh punishment to a coach we knew didn’t do anything wrong.”
Read more: Rustlers release coach Chris King
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