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Posted: **April 25th, 2012, 9:28 am**

Good luck to SIU ever finding a good coach if they refuse to pay the ones they fire. Bad precedent to set if you asked me. Look at the Raiders for a comparison.

Posted: **April 25th, 2012, 11:16 am**

landmark wrote:Pay the man that ran the program into the ground? Pay the man that had 4 players play all four years for him? Pay the man that had 2 players miss the fall semester due to grades, oh one of whom is your own cousin? SIU's apr dropped like a rock under lowery. clo was no saint i doubt he wants his dirty laundry aired in court

Yes. Pay him. It may not be the full amount, but negotiate in private at least. It's not about hurt feelings or people flunking classes. Its about contract law.

Unless there is a specific condition of the contract that poor APR performance equals "for cause" its not going to stand up to scrutiny in court. If the contract defines the for cause firings as the usual things: breaking the law, moral turpitude (see Larry Eustachy @ Iowa State or Bobby Petrino more recently), or violation university/NCAA regs, Lowery could present a defamation cause (though it would be a weak argument at this point).

Prom date gets a corsage & dinner regardless of what happens after the dance.

Posted: **April 25th, 2012, 3:39 pm**

pafan wrote:SIU isn't dumb. If they didn't think they had a case to get off with less than the sum total they owe Lowery (1.5 million or so), they wouldn't have taken this step.

The scenarios:

a) Lowery agrees that he breached the contract with SIU and is owed nothing
b) Lowery attempts to reach a negotiated settlement with SIU
c) Lowery sues. SIU spends 20,000 to 40,000 on their legal fees and the court finds in Lowery's favor; SIU pays a few more thousand dollars for Lowery's legal costs.
d) Lowery sues. SIU spends 20,000 to 40,000 on their legal fees and the court finds in SIU's favor.

In the worst case, SIU pays 2% more to Lowery.

At the modest rate of $300/hour, $20,000 only buys 67 hours of billable hours. You might want to re-think your estimate of potential legal fees.

Legal fees for a protracted settlement process, either judicial, arbitration or negotiation, could easily cost several hundred thousand dollars.

If Obama's Justice Department takes Coach Lowery's side, it could cost much more.

Posted: **April 25th, 2012, 6:33 pm**

It was my understanding that normally the Athletic Dept. goes to boosters to get the cash needed to make a change. Are there none? If this is the route they were going to take couldn't they have done this long ago? If there is cause now, wasn't there cause long ago? I agree with other posters that this only makes SIU look bad. Is money that bad at SIU? Has this happened anywhere else before this?

Posted: **April 26th, 2012, 8:10 am**

Trapped in CA wrote:
landmark wrote:Pay the man that ran the program into the ground? Pay the man that had 4 players play all four years for him? Pay the man that had 2 players miss the fall semester due to grades, oh one of whom is your own cousin? SIU's apr dropped like a rock under lowery. clo was no saint i doubt he wants his dirty laundry aired in court

Yes. Pay him. It may not be the full amount, but negotiate in private at least. It's not about hurt feelings or people flunking classes. Its about contract law.

Unless there is a specific condition of the contract that poor APR performance equals "for cause" its not going to stand up to scrutiny in court. If the contract defines the for cause firings as the usual things: breaking the law, moral turpitude (see Larry Eustachy @ Iowa State or Bobby Petrino more recently), or violation university/NCAA regs, Lowery could present a defamation cause (though it would be a weak argument at this point).

Prom date gets a corsage & dinner regardless of what happens after the dance.

You're right, it's about contract law, and if Lowery didn't uphold a portion of that contract, and that is proven in court, this is the right step for SIU. Lowery destroyed the program, destroyed it. He should be held accountable for that, not only by his firing, but also monetarily if he failed to act on the academics side as outlined in his contract.

Lowery had certain obligations as coach to promote academicians, graduation rates, good grades, player retention, etc. under the contract. If he didn't take the proper steps and measures to assure that, then he is in breach of contract.

Posted: **April 26th, 2012, 10:03 am**

[quote="DawgieStyle
Lowery had certain obligations as coach to promote academicians, graduation rates, good grades, player retention, etc. under the contract. If he didn't take the proper steps and measures to assure that, then he is in breach of contract.[/quote]

If not precisely defined, "promote" is a pretty squishy word.

Posted: **April 26th, 2012, 11:01 am**

To get an idea of what a coaches contract looks like, here is Ben Jacobson's

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDUQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.desmoinesregister.com%2Fassets%2Fpdf%2FBenJacobson_contract.pdf&ei=b3qZT9-9NqOriAKgjtncDw&usg=AFQjCNElaqd-2-pNcx-_JTO1idncFHLWbQ

Unless SIU has been sanctioned by the NCAA for grades, or SIU has a file full of reprimands, this will be a tough position to defend.

Posted: **April 26th, 2012, 11:22 am**

There is no defense for this position. None.

Posted: **April 26th, 2012, 1:24 pm**

of course there is no defense for this in your eyes.

You aren't an alum. of the school, where he destroyed our basketball program, our name, made us a laughing stock in college basketball, and made no commitment to the student part of student athlete.

I get he contract. He had a contract to be the head coach. Sometimes wins don't come. I'm ok with that.

But there is NO! excuse for the academic problems, continual off the court behavioral problems of players, and a horrid player retention problem. Those are on him, and I would completely argue based on those alone, not wins and losses, that he completely violated the terms of his contract.

Posted: **April 26th, 2012, 2:33 pm**

DawgieStyle wrote:of course there is no defense for this in your eyes.

You aren't an alum. of the school, where he destroyed our basketball program, our name, made us a laughing stock in college basketball, and made no commitment to the student part of student athlete.

I get he contract. He had a contract to be the head coach. Sometimes wins don't come. I'm ok with that.

But there is NO! excuse for the academic problems, continual off the court behavioral problems of players, and a horrid player retention problem. Those are on him, and I would completely argue based on those alone, not wins and losses, that he completely violated the terms of his contract.

Ace Dad might not be an alumnus, but he isn't blinded by Saluki-colored glasses either.

Lowery was fired because he didn't win enough. To claim otherwise is silly and completely disingenuous. If he was winning 25 games a season, he'd still be the coach -- academic and off-the-court issues or not.

SIU finally decided they could afford the buyout and are now looking for a way to reduce the sum of the buyout. That's fine, but they're going about it the wrong way, IMO.

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SIU fired Lowery "with cause" and won't pay contract

Re: SIU fired Lowery "with cause" and won't pay contract

Re: SIU fired Lowery "with cause" and won't pay contract

Re: SIU fired Lowery "with cause" and won't pay contract

Re: SIU fired Lowery "with cause" and won't pay contract

Re: SIU fired Lowery "with cause" and won't pay contract

Re: SIU fired Lowery "with cause" and won't pay contract

Re: SIU fired Lowery "with cause" and won't pay contract

Re: SIU fired Lowery "with cause" and won't pay contract

Re: SIU fired Lowery "with cause" and won't pay contract

Re: SIU fired Lowery "with cause" and won't pay contract