Column: No King, No Ring!

News of Lakeland College Rustlers women’s basketball head coach Chris King getting fired rocked the Border City.

The court of public opinion

I’ve been covering Rustlers’ athletics for over a decade, and when I checked the weekend scores last Monday and saw two forfeits on their record, I knew something wasn’t right.

As reported in last week’s Meridian Source, the team, under the direction of one of the most decorated coaches in Canadian sports history, hadn’t lost a game in two calendar years.

The forfeits came after the entire team decided to stand behind the coach and not play after King was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. King was fired seven days after being put on administrative leave. 

The whole situation has garnered more questions than answers ... and the answers the Source want seem impossible to get. Well, that’s by design.

My plan was to file a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) with the college to obtain a copy of the investigation. I wanted to see what it said, who was interviewed, and the reasons King was fired.

Well, after numerous phone calls with Lakeland, the story is, it was an outside investigation and the information will never be released. End of story.

If you ask me, handling things this way only caused more trauma and grief for King and his players.

Will we ever know the details of this investigation? I’m not sure, but I definitely haven’t given up hope.

For me, Lakeland College doesn’t have a women’s basketball team without Chris King. 

I’ve known King for as long as I’ve lived in Lloyd and hate seeing what’s happening to him. It’s also safe to say the majority of the community is with me after seeing an outpouring of supporting on social media.

Current coaches were offered King’s job and turned it down. A number of his players stated they’re not sure if they’re coming back to play. What’s next?

We’re all curious to see what the future holds.

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