Tuesday, February 17, 1998
McCoy controversy continues with sudden departure
RESIGNATION: Intense media scrutiny cited as star center quits
team after months of speculation
By Brent Boyd
Daily Bruin Staff
The soap opera that is UCLA basketball continued Sunday with the
mysterious disappearance of one of its main stars and a dramatic
conclusion to its most recent sub-plot.
Junior Jelani McCoy resigned from the team, stating in a press
release that intense media scrutiny over the past few months "has
exacted a toll on himself and his family and was disruptive to his
ability to concentrate on playing basketball."
The resignation ended a tumultuous four-and-a-half months for
the six-foot, 10-inch center.
Along with teammate Kris Johnson, McCoy was suspended on Sept.
29 for undisclosed reasons, widely rumored to be marijuana use.
He was re-instated on Dec. 1 and played in his first game nearly
a month later, but was again the center of media attention when it
was reported a few weeks ago that he was to be suspended from the
team.
Finally, he ended all rumors and speculation with his official
announcement on Sunday.
Though McCoy refused to talk to the media directly, the press
release added, "Because of the potential for continued distraction
and disruption, McCoy believes it would be better to leave the team
now and allow his teammates to become accustomed to playing without
his participation."
The departure of the school’s all-time leading shot blocker –
just three weeks before the NCAA Tournament – is just another
obstacle to overcome for the adversity-prone program.
Over the past two years the team has experienced tournament
heart-breakers, the firing of its head coach, an investigation into
recruiting violations, and the suspensions of McCoy and
Johnson.
"It has been a solid year-and-a-half of continuous crisis
management and damage control that a coach of the ’90’s has to be
prepared for," head coach Steve Lavin said. "Our program has dealt
with losses before and hopefully we’ll step through this and go
forward."
McCoy’s resignation was as mysterious as the events leading up
to it.
After Saturday’s victory over California at Pauley Pavilion,
McCoy told reporters that he was not a quitter, and would continue
playing.
However, hours later he told a UCLA senior administrator that
Saturday’s game was his last as a Bruin.
McCoy did not talk to Lavin or any other member of the coaching
staff about his decision.
"All I know is that a UCLA administrator told me last night that
he resigned from the team," Lavin said.
In fact, Lavin had not talked to McCoy since prior to the
California contest.
"Probably the last conversation was right before the Cal game,"
he said. "It was more about fronting the post, boxing out, and
running the floor. It was like I do with all the players – talking
about basketball and getting ready to play Cal."
As a result, Lavin said he was not expecting McCoy’s sudden
departure.
"It took me by surprise," the second-year head coach said. "Why?
Because he quit."
With the school’s vice chancellor for legal affairs, Joseph
Mandel, watching Lavin’s press conference Sunday, the coach was
sure not to say anything that could get the university in legal
trouble.
As a result, "no comment" was quite a prevalent phrase in the
Morgan Center.
The university is prohibited by U.S. and California privacy laws
from making any comment regarding possible reasons for the
resignation, other than those provided by McCoy himself.
No one in the athletic department would say who the senior
administrator was, why McCoy would suddenly quit, or whether the
school may have forced McCoy out.
"I couldn’t tell you. There’s two things and one is that I can’t
speculate," Lavin said. "And the second thing is because of federal
and state laws, constitutional laws … in respect to Jelani and
Jelani’s people, we don’t want to do anything legally that would be
out of bounds."
The graduate from St. Augustine High School in San Diego will
retain his scholarship for the remainder of the academic year, but
has no hopes of ever playing in Pauley Pavilion again.
When asked if McCoy would be given another chance if he changed
his mind, Lavin answered in his most definitive statement of the
day.
"No. He resigned."
McCoy could transfer to another school, but it is more likely
that he will enter the upcoming NBA draft.
And Lavin sees McCoy as a solid pro prospect despite his recent
troubles.
"He has a great future in basketball and I think he’ll play for
a lot of years," he said. "He could play 10 years at the next
level. Just talking to general managers and scouts, his upside is
unbelievable."
But it could have been so much brighter.
JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin
Coach Steve Lavin speaks on Jelani McCoy’s resignation at a
press conference.