Worcester Academy’s Jamie Sullivan On The Rutgers Controversy

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Saturday, April 06, 2013

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalWorcester Sports Editor

Jamie Sullivan

It is THE big story in the world of sports today. In fact, not only is it THE big story in the world of sports, it is also one of the top news stories throughout the country.

I am, of course, talking about the Mike Rice firing at Rutgers University this week after a tape was broadcast by ESPN showing Rice verbally and physically abusing his players during practice.

GoLocalWorcester.com caught up with the very well-respected boys basketball coach at Worcester Academy Jamie Sullivan to get his thoughts on this story. Here are some of Sullivan’s thoughts:

On Rice’s abuse of his players:

“It’s really unfortunate and, to be honest with you, just terrible. But as a coach you just can’t put your hands on a player. Listen, coaches will tell you that things happen, you lose your temper, but you can’t touch your kids or kick or throw the ball at them. You just can’t do that.”

“You know, we hear so much about bullying these days and what happened down there is the very definition of bullying. You had all of the aspects of it - the physical and verbal abuse, the power imbalance. We’re supposed to be doing something about bullying these days and that’s exactly what was going on down there. It’s unfortunate.”

On a former Worcester Academy player who transferred from Rutgers to American University:

Austin Carroll

“Austin Carroll was at Rutgers as a freshman and a sophomore but left there and transferred to American. I never went into detail with him about what went on but he obviously didn’t like what was going on down there which is why he left Rutgers. It's really a shame."

On what he believes his role is as a basketball coach:

“Listen, I know Mike Rice. He’s a very intense guy. But there’s a difference between right and wrong and you just can’t do what he did.”

“As a coach, parents entrust you with their kids and that’s a big responsibility. That’s why, to me, I’m teaching kids life lessons through basketball that will have an effect on them for their whole life on and off the court. I’m just using basketball to teach them to do the right thing no matter what they’re doing.”