It is unbearably more than enough that there is a damaging oaf sitting in the most important chair in the world…is it really that difficult to make the proper call on a basketball coach in a backwater college town? Unbelievable…thanks for pulling back the curtains, John…and thanks to Pete Newell, Jr for nudging you forward on this!
I cannot fathom why these incidents still occur. How ignorant of a coach to think that this type of abuse is still the norm! All I can say is SHAME ON YOU, WESTERN OREGON!!! Shame on you for not doing your due diligence to investigate the coach's past for accuracy. I hope the students win the lawsuit and the coaches are fired and banned from coaching in the state of Oregon.
Thanks, not only is the coaching behavior head scratching, so is the school's. All the crap about student development and safety is just that, a steaming pile!
I feel bad for the players, treated shamefully and leave with a bad taste.
ADs twist themselves in knots lest they get the rep of not standing behind their coaches, which can stall their own career trajectory as quickly as the 'bad fundraiser' tag.
What an excellent piece! I am biased because that’s my daughter Carlotta, but illustrates that you can coach your players hard, make it fun and win. And your players love playing for you.
This lawsuit is not one or two players claiming mistreatment. There are nine players as plaintiffs, with specific claims of mistreatment and abuse. The team voted to end their season a year ago—not a minor development. The investigation was closed out without action, citing unsubstantiated accusations. This reeks of a coverup by the AD and administration. Add to it the issue of resume’ misrepresentation by one or both of these “coaches”, and you have a mess totally mishandled by the university. If this is how WOU likes their public image to be, they deserve whatever is coming. The usual drivel from their PR people will not fool anyone.
Has the WOU coach been fired for lying on her application? Sounds like WOU is going to paying some serious dough for not doing due diligence and allowing abusive behavior by their employees.
GREAT job with this column. In the news this morning, we were reminded about the horrible abuse that happened in the St. Helens School District. A new report this morning about sexual misconduct allegations about the track & field coach at Clark College came out in The Columbian (https://www.columbian.com/news/2025/jan/31/clark-college-coach-under-investigation-for-alleged-inappropriate-behavior-toward-female-athletes/). A male teacher at Hudson's Bay High School was accused of misconduct with female students, too (and ultimately resigned under investigation)...my question is, what the hell is going on, societally, that makes people in positions of authority over students believe that they can get away with this BS? It's alarming. Thank you for shining light on the problem...but also spotlighting the sunny side of it. Pretty impressive what's happening at SOU!
Athletics administrators will bend over backwards to avoid being tagged as someone who does not have coaches' backs and gibe them free reign to motivate/punish as they see fit. It can stall an college AD career as fast as being a bad fundraiser, but the effects trickle down.
I believe sadly, it is a reflection of our society. Has this always gone on or are people less willing to tolerate it and are using their voice to speak out against it? WOU response is pathetic. Hope that the athletes win their law suit and that people will be held accountable.
So good to connect. I definitely remember you and Curt Daniels as two of my dad's good buddies! Funny how connections are made these days. Thanks for saying hi Coach!
I applaud the young ladies for standing up against physical and mental abuse.
What I do find disturbing and disgusting is the University’s lack of emotion to take corrective action against the coaches responsible for the ongoing abuse, and believe they should be fined heavily or have their tenure revoked.
Lastly I am grateful for the new coach being supportive of our players, and they’re happy again. (I hope)
Thank you, Carlotta is my daughter, and I can vouch for the joy it is to watch this team. The players are all outstanding ladies as well as players and coaches. As a note: one of the assistant coaches was a player at SOU and stayed on to help coach
Wow! Living out of state I had no idea. I know the Western Oregon campus well having lived so close. We had high school competitions there. My mom got her Masters degree in Fine Arts there and I attended her graduation in 1984. As someone who coached my kids' little league sports teams, I can't imagine coaching in a way that is not joyful. All kids in sports just want to have fun. I made sure we had fun, even if the goal was winning. When the kids are having a good time, even when working hard, winning is a lot easier. I just don't get why ANY coach would do it differently
Living here in Klamath Falls, the home of Oregon Institute of Technology, I’ve seen SOU on a regular basis, as they both play in the same league and are HUGE rivals. Women’s basketball, men’s basketball, baseball, and softball programs are ALL class acts and extremely successful
Thanks John for sharing this information. This certainly highlights why vetting is important during hiring. Both situations speak for the best and worst in college administrations, hiring practices and coaching staffs.
How horrible that the players at the one school had to endure what they did and how wonderful that the players are having an amazing season at the other school.
This sticks highlights the best/worst in college athletics.
John, nice piece. It would be interesting to look at the investigative report done by the Portland law firm. Having seen many of these, it is likely that both sides were covered, and the final decision on whether the player contentions were substantiated was left to the athletic department. Every step of this process is usually undertaken with the background that litigation needs to be avoided. It is therefore somewhat surprising that the school decided to force the players into filing a lawsuit for relief. I frankly would have expected that lower coach would have received discipline, with the hopes that the head coach would voluntarily resign, rather than causing the players to bring the light of day to the workings of the department by filing a lawsuit.
A great contrast between the programs. My heart breaks for the women of the Western Oregon basketball team. The coaches need to be fired immediately.
This dumpster fire sounds a lot like the situation with my son's high school football team in Washington. The coaching is horrific and is in it's 9th year. Program is in the dumps and keeps getting worse. Parents and students have complained in mass to the AD & Principal only to get legitimate complaints ignored and the coach and his horrible crew continue. My son is sadly opting out of playing another year of a sport he is good at and loves because it's not worth it with the coaches. There seems to be no other recourse.
Great story. Personally, I would much rather be reading columns of this nature than endless posts (or so it seems) on the future of the Pac-12 and Oregon football/Phil Knight.
I just gotta say this: Dude. You can write. Excellent column today.
More columns coming, I'm sure. Both of these stories "demand" follow up, albeit for about as different of reasons as can be imagined.
Amen!
It is unbearably more than enough that there is a damaging oaf sitting in the most important chair in the world…is it really that difficult to make the proper call on a basketball coach in a backwater college town? Unbelievable…thanks for pulling back the curtains, John…and thanks to Pete Newell, Jr for nudging you forward on this!
David, you’d probably get more likes on your comment had you left the politics out. Most of us here strive to keep that to other forums. Just saying.
Thank you…
Your comment is correct.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
I cannot fathom why these incidents still occur. How ignorant of a coach to think that this type of abuse is still the norm! All I can say is SHAME ON YOU, WESTERN OREGON!!! Shame on you for not doing your due diligence to investigate the coach's past for accuracy. I hope the students win the lawsuit and the coaches are fired and banned from coaching in the state of Oregon.
Here is the Stateman-Journal article:
https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/oregon/2025/01/29/western-oregon-university-basketball-players-lawsuit/78021047007/
Thanks, not only is the coaching behavior head scratching, so is the school's. All the crap about student development and safety is just that, a steaming pile!
I feel bad for the players, treated shamefully and leave with a bad taste.
ADs twist themselves in knots lest they get the rep of not standing behind their coaches, which can stall their own career trajectory as quickly as the 'bad fundraiser' tag.
Careerism is killing college sports.
I suspect you're correct. Doing the right thing is fast becoming a vanishing trait, in all areas!
What an excellent piece! I am biased because that’s my daughter Carlotta, but illustrates that you can coach your players hard, make it fun and win. And your players love playing for you.
This lawsuit is not one or two players claiming mistreatment. There are nine players as plaintiffs, with specific claims of mistreatment and abuse. The team voted to end their season a year ago—not a minor development. The investigation was closed out without action, citing unsubstantiated accusations. This reeks of a coverup by the AD and administration. Add to it the issue of resume’ misrepresentation by one or both of these “coaches”, and you have a mess totally mishandled by the university. If this is how WOU likes their public image to be, they deserve whatever is coming. The usual drivel from their PR people will not fool anyone.
Has the WOU coach been fired for lying on her application? Sounds like WOU is going to paying some serious dough for not doing due diligence and allowing abusive behavior by their employees.
John,
GREAT job with this column. In the news this morning, we were reminded about the horrible abuse that happened in the St. Helens School District. A new report this morning about sexual misconduct allegations about the track & field coach at Clark College came out in The Columbian (https://www.columbian.com/news/2025/jan/31/clark-college-coach-under-investigation-for-alleged-inappropriate-behavior-toward-female-athletes/). A male teacher at Hudson's Bay High School was accused of misconduct with female students, too (and ultimately resigned under investigation)...my question is, what the hell is going on, societally, that makes people in positions of authority over students believe that they can get away with this BS? It's alarming. Thank you for shining light on the problem...but also spotlighting the sunny side of it. Pretty impressive what's happening at SOU!
I commented elsewhere but it's worth repeating:
Careerism
Athletics administrators will bend over backwards to avoid being tagged as someone who does not have coaches' backs and gibe them free reign to motivate/punish as they see fit. It can stall an college AD career as fast as being a bad fundraiser, but the effects trickle down.
The answer:
Positive coaching
It should be the minimum standard, not the gold standard. https://positivecoach.org/
I believe sadly, it is a reflection of our society. Has this always gone on or are people less willing to tolerate it and are using their voice to speak out against it? WOU response is pathetic. Hope that the athletes win their law suit and that people will be held accountable.
Any relation to Fred Holmberg?
Yep. He was my dad. Passed away in 2023.
One of my all time favorites. Worked with him!
Thank you! Makes me wonder if you and I knew each other, because of my dad, at any point.
Greg Hopkins. Taught and coached before going into Major League Baseball
So good to connect. I definitely remember you and Curt Daniels as two of my dad's good buddies! Funny how connections are made these days. Thanks for saying hi Coach!
I applaud the young ladies for standing up against physical and mental abuse.
What I do find disturbing and disgusting is the University’s lack of emotion to take corrective action against the coaches responsible for the ongoing abuse, and believe they should be fined heavily or have their tenure revoked.
Lastly I am grateful for the new coach being supportive of our players, and they’re happy again. (I hope)
Well done John!
What new coach? Isn't Peatross and Marlow still coaching the WOU program?
I believe they were fired from I gathered in reading the article from the Statemen’s Journal as suggested by John Canzano.
Nope, they are listed on the website as the 2024-2025 coaches. Last year's investigation didn't result in any action against them.
Still there and coaching is the way I read it also. No word of termination mentioned anywhere.
Thank you, Carlotta is my daughter, and I can vouch for the joy it is to watch this team. The players are all outstanding ladies as well as players and coaches. As a note: one of the assistant coaches was a player at SOU and stayed on to help coach
Wow! Living out of state I had no idea. I know the Western Oregon campus well having lived so close. We had high school competitions there. My mom got her Masters degree in Fine Arts there and I attended her graduation in 1984. As someone who coached my kids' little league sports teams, I can't imagine coaching in a way that is not joyful. All kids in sports just want to have fun. I made sure we had fun, even if the goal was winning. When the kids are having a good time, even when working hard, winning is a lot easier. I just don't get why ANY coach would do it differently
Living here in Klamath Falls, the home of Oregon Institute of Technology, I’ve seen SOU on a regular basis, as they both play in the same league and are HUGE rivals. Women’s basketball, men’s basketball, baseball, and softball programs are ALL class acts and extremely successful
Owls VS. Raiders = Huskies VS. Ducks
Next Tuesday SOU vs OIT. Both women coaches really respect each other and it shows in quality games
Thanks John for sharing this information. This certainly highlights why vetting is important during hiring. Both situations speak for the best and worst in college administrations, hiring practices and coaching staffs.
How horrible that the players at the one school had to endure what they did and how wonderful that the players are having an amazing season at the other school.
This sticks highlights the best/worst in college athletics.
John, nice piece. It would be interesting to look at the investigative report done by the Portland law firm. Having seen many of these, it is likely that both sides were covered, and the final decision on whether the player contentions were substantiated was left to the athletic department. Every step of this process is usually undertaken with the background that litigation needs to be avoided. It is therefore somewhat surprising that the school decided to force the players into filing a lawsuit for relief. I frankly would have expected that lower coach would have received discipline, with the hopes that the head coach would voluntarily resign, rather than causing the players to bring the light of day to the workings of the department by filing a lawsuit.
A great contrast between the programs. My heart breaks for the women of the Western Oregon basketball team. The coaches need to be fired immediately.
This dumpster fire sounds a lot like the situation with my son's high school football team in Washington. The coaching is horrific and is in it's 9th year. Program is in the dumps and keeps getting worse. Parents and students have complained in mass to the AD & Principal only to get legitimate complaints ignored and the coach and his horrible crew continue. My son is sadly opting out of playing another year of a sport he is good at and loves because it's not worth it with the coaches. There seems to be no other recourse.
Is this the same type of thing that just happened at Tillamook high school ? I have read a story that the girls team was disbanded, true ?
Great story. Personally, I would much rather be reading columns of this nature than endless posts (or so it seems) on the future of the Pac-12 and Oregon football/Phil Knight.