I consider the refusal to renew Eastern’s women’s basketball coach Linda Wunder’s contract as nothing more than a cover up.

Don’t get me wrong, a career record of 36-101 in five seasons in Charleston is nothing to write home about, and with an 8-19 finish this season, Wunder won’t be in the running for any coaching awards. But if Wunder was let go after an 8-19 season by director of athletes Rich McDuffie, how does the coach she shares practice time at Lantz Arena with get his contract renewed to come back for a 24th year on the bench?

After all, Rick Samuels’ program was actually worse than Wunder’s, as the men went through a disastrous 6-19 season and were tied with Southeast Missouri State for dead last in the Ohio Valley Conference at 4-10. Not only was this season pathetic, it also lacked any excitement as it was clear since January making the OVC Tournament would take nothing short of a miracle. This lack of hope showed in attendance figures with weekday games hovering around 1,000 fans and about 3,000 supporters heading to Lantz on the weekend.

Maybe McDuffie keeps Samuels in Charleston because of his many years coaching the team. The Eastern athletic web site makes even the casual visitor aware Samuels has the second longest active tenure at one university (behind Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim) among Division I-A coaches.

However, Samuel’s time at Eastern hasn’t resulted in an enormous amount of wins. With 345 victories heading into the 2003-04 season, Samuels sits 34th among active NCAA coaches. Yet this number seems diminished when it’s learned Samuels ranks 19th for most seasons behind the bench for an active coach. Further more, Samuels’ winning percentage of around .500 won’t be anywhere near the top of the list.

What’s interesting about the dismissal of Wunder is a quote from McDuffie in The Daily Eastern News when it was announced she would not come back next season.

“It was simply disappointing that there was no further development over the past three years,” McDuffie said. “I felt we needed new leadership right away.”

While one can choose to agree or disagree with this statement by McDuffie, the truth is the same can be said for the men’s squad.

After taking Eastern to the NCAA Tournament in 2001 with a 21-10 record, the Panthers have struggled the past three seasons going 15-16, 14-15 and 6-19. The first two years even included “Basketball Jones” Henry Domercant, who proved without Kyle Hill and a controversial goaltending call he couldn’t get back to the “Big Dance.”

This past season was marred by a loss to Division II Florida Gulf Coast and two promising young players (Kevin Lowe and Aaron Harrison) leaving the team. It’s safe to place some blame on the Panthers “leadership” for the loss to Florida Gulf Coast.

In the same Daily Eastern News article on Wunder’s dismissal, McDuffie made it clear he was looking for better conference success.

“I think it’s a possible expectation to win conference championships, that’s certainly a realistic goal,” McDuffie said.

Wunder has not won any OVC crowns in her five seasons at Eastern, but Samuels’ record is also less than stellar in conference play. In the eight seasons the men have played in the OVC, Samuels has won just a single title. His resume was slightly better in the Mid-Continent Conference winning two titles in 14 years, but combining time in the MCC and the OVC Samuels still only has one conference championship in the last 12 years.

The Wunder situation became even more intriguing when news broke that McDuffie told her she would not return as coach with still two weeks remaining in the season. This information was not announced publicly, but it was known by the players who at the time were still fighting for an OVC Tournament berth. It must have been extremely hard to expect the Panthers to make a late season run when they knew their coach would be gone at the end of the season.

I don’t understand why a decision was made with still two weeks left in the season. Couldn’t McDuffie have waited for the year to be over before telling Wunder, thus giving her and the team the benefit of doubt? An assistant coach could have taken on the interim title for a few weeks if it was such a pressing mater to rid Wunder from the program. If McDuffie didn’t care to name one of the assistants as coach I’m sure sophomore guard Megan Sparks could have taken on the role for a couple of games. As this trick would have given Sparks some hands on experience to bring to the search committee looking for a replacement, which she is one of the members.

But in my opinion, I see this move and the timing to dismiss Wunder as nothing more than a cover up for the lackluster men’s season. There was talk around the university whether Samuels would be back next season, and after McDuffie announced he would return I can’t say the reaction was all favorable. So what better way to end one controversy than to start another.

I’m not trying to say Samuels should be let go and there won’t be any FireSamuels.com web sites started by Michael Gilbert anytime soon. However, if McDuffie is going to make a change on the women’s side because Wunder failed to reach the accomplishments he stated, McDuffie should also hold Samuels’ up to those same standards.