At 3 p.m. Thursday in the Panther locker room, the bomb was dropped on the 15 players that they were currently without a coach.

“I think ‘deflation’ is the word that comes to mind when he told us,” senior forward Andy Gobczynski said. “I thought somebody punched me in the stomach.”

The room suddenly became as silent as a funeral home with players immediately dropping their heads and searching for answers.

“Everybody got quiet immediately and had that feeling like somebody had died,” redshirt freshman guard Bobby Catchings said. “I don’t know how I’m going to deal with it.”

By 4 p.m., Samuels and his assistants had cleared out of their offices with their doors locked, lights off and supplies cleaned out.

“College basketball is a win-only business and you never want to see a guy go through this,” freshman Bil Duany said. “He made sure to say that he would stay in contact with us.”

To many of the younger players, Samuels was more to them than a coach, and they really felt the blow of not having anybody to currently lead them.

“The reason I came here was coach Samuels because I saw college coaches that didn’t care about you, just you’re performance on the floor. Samuels was different,” Catchings said as he collected himself. “He was my parent out here.”

The common emotions initially on the team were shock and surprise.

“It was a big shock to everybody because we just assumed that he’d be here,” Duany said.

Freshman center George Tandy would not completely rule out the possibility of transferring now that the coaching situation has abruptly changed.

“I would have to sit down with the new coach, and if I don’t like what he’s saying, I would think about leaving,” Tandy said.

The players were allowed to ask Samuels any questions in the team meeting. One topic was the unknown future of their now former coach.

“It was asked and basically became a dodged question,” Gobczynski said.

Tandy vented his frustration with the decision made by the university.

“It was a little disappointing because I don’t think they should’ve done it,” Tandy said. “We had a solid future here and to fire or lay him off is wrong.”

The 6-foot-8-inch center from Cleveland was not confident in a new coach turning this team into a winner instantly.

“You never know what might happen,” Tandy said. “Maybe a new coach would come in here and mess things up.”

The players left the locker room feeling at least partly responsible for Samuels’ dismissal.

“You’re always going to have those thoughts like if we would’ve done this or that, things would be different,” Catchings said. “I’ll tell you the two games that pop into my mind are not getting a rebound against DePaul and the late basket at (Eastern Kentucky).”

Catchings and Duany said they are completely committed to the Eastern program for the duration of their eligibility, but they would like the players to have input in the hiring process.

“I would like to have a hand in the process and hopefully they will look to the players for advice,” Duany said.

The most notable feature that was mentioned by players was the class and excitement they felt Samuels exhibited throughout his 25-year tenure.

“He told us to keep working hard and not to give up on what we came here to do,” Catchings said. “With all that has happened to him [including] his dad dying, he handled everything like a man.”

Samuels by the numbers

– 360-360 overall

– 79-73 OVC

– 235-102 Home

– 107-229 Away

– 90-74 In-state

– 18-29 Neutral site

Notes

– 5-24 vs. Murray State

– 15-4 vs. Morehead State

– 2001 DEN Person of the year

– 2 NCAA Tourney appearances

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