Almost a month after beginning a review of the men’s basketball program, Kennesaw State athletic director Vaughn Williams seems no closer to explaining the purpose behind the review nor the decision to reassign coach Jimmy Lallathin within the department.
On March 23 the athletic department issued a statement stating that Lallathin would no longer oversee the program after 1 ½ seasons in charge that included going 10-22 last year in a weak Atlantic Sun Conference. It seemed as if Lallathin had the program lurching in a positive direction after the team went 6-25 in 2013-14 and 3-27 in 2012-13.
No reason for the move was provided in the statement, but assistant David Rivers was promoted to interim coach.
Five days later, at halftime of the team’s first spring football game and after promising to discuss the situation with reporters, Williams instead handed the group another statement saying that the men’s program was undergoing an internal review and that Lallathin was being moved to another position. Williams declined to answer any questions, other than to say he hoped the review would be handled quickly.
Calls to Lallathin and his attorney haven’t been returned. Williams has declined to comment.
The open coaching job was posted on the university’s website and the NCAA website and it closed last week.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution filed a series of Open Records Requests for copies of Lallathin’s contract, correspondence between Williams and Lallathin from Aug. 1, 2014 until March 24, 2015, as well as copies of all NCAA rules violations committed by the any member of the men’s basketball staff since July 1, 2014.
The correspondences between the two revealed nothing that would indicate a change was coming.
Lallathin’s contract, signed in 2014, went for three years starting April 1, 2014 and included an annual salary of $120,000. There are no terms for buyouts by the athletic department should Lallathin be terminated for something like poor results, nor are there buyouts that Lallathin must pay to athletics should he receive an offer from another employer that he wants to pursue.
There are certain conditions that must be met that, if not met, can result in reassignment at the discretion of the athletic director, or termination. Those include following the rules and regulations of KSU, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the NCAA, as well as the rules of the Atlantic Sun.
An Open Records Request filed to the university revealed a few self-reported violations, all mostly minor and none occurring within the past four months:
• A donor paying for four players’ meals at a Cracker Barrel that resulted in them giving the cost of the meal, $18.75, to a charity. It was considered to be a Level III violation, very minor;
• An impermissible workout of a player in July, 2014 that resulted in the suspension of assistant coach Jon Cremins for two games and Lallathin for a game after an internal investigation that lasted three weeks and included several members of the athletics department staff, four players and three members of the coaching staff. Another member of the staff was suspended for three games. He was not on staff during the time of violations, but inherited the suspension because of the actions of his predecessor. This was filed as a Level II violation;
• Impermissible tweets by a player in late July and early August regarding unofficial visits by two junior college players that resulted in the offender being suspended from two practices in October. This was turned in as Level III violation;
• Two players wearing impermissible Adidas apparel before and during games in late December and early January. This was also turned in as a Level III violation and resulted in a letter of admonishment being placed in Lallathin’s personnel file on Jan. 7. He also received a letter on Sept. 23 admonishing him missing receipts on expense reports filed after the team’s trip to Italy last summer;
Other clauses in Lallathin’s contract that can result in termination include not reporting any traffic violations/incidents within five days or having a poor driving record. He can also be fired for any actions that “constitutes moral turpitude, or which would tend to bring public disrespect, contempt, or ridicule upon KSU, or failure to follow the high moral and ethical standards commonly expected of Coach as a leading representative of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at KSU.”.
According to the contract, Lallathin can be fired for the failure of the team to meet mandated minimum requirements for the Academic Progress Rate of Graduation Success Rate. The team had an APR of 945 in 2012-13, well above the minimums required by the NCAA. The team had a GSR of 50 for the 2004-07 cohort, which is the most recent information made by available by the NCAA. Those scores don’t involve players coached by Lallathin.
