Drake Basketball Coach Is Reassigned After His Players Revolt

Drake basketball Coach Tom Abatemarco, whose team refused to practice or play for him, was reassigned Wednesday to unspecified duties in the university’s athletic department.

Assistant coach Eddie Fields will run the squad until the university completes an in-house investigation of the program, said Jack Ohle, Drake’s vice president for institutional advancement.

The move was made to “stabilize and provide for the continuation of the men’s basketball program for the remainder of the review process,” Ohle said.

Last Friday, university President Michael Ferrari appointed an associate dean, a faculty member and the student body president to a committee to investigate the basketball program, including allegations of NCAA rules violations and other complaints.

The Bulldogs will play Saturday night in Des Moines against Wichita State. The players practiced for an hour Wednesday with Fields.

They had not practiced this week and on Tuesday charged Abatemarco has harassed them and subjected them to “inhuman treatment.” They said through an attorney that they would not play as long as Abatemarco was the coach but would play for one of his assistants.

Athletic Director Curt Blake denied that the players are running the program, adding that he chose Fields to replace Abatemarco without consulting the players. He also said it is possible that Abatemarco could return to the bench if he is exonerated of any wrongdoing in the university’s investigation, even though players said they will never play for him.

Abatemarco was in his second season at Drake after two years at Lamar, his only other college head coaching job. Drake is 11-12, including a 3-5 record in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bulldogs were 12-17 last year.

The players issued their ultimatum after meeting for five hours with the in-house committee.

“The team wants the community and the university to know they are not going to practice or play for Coach Abatemarco,” the players said in their statement, read by attorney Lawrence Marcucci.

Marcucci said that Abatemarco and athletic department officials have tried to gloss over dissension on the team by saying players who quit recently did so because they were upset over a lack of playing time. That was not the reason, the statement said.

“The reason is inhuman treatment of the players in the form of personal harassment,” the players’ statement said. “It’s also over abject disregard for the academic progress of the players--including, they believe, violation of some NCAA rules.”

Marcucci declined to elaborate on the allegations, citing a confidentiality agreement with the investigating committee.

In addition to investigating Abatemarco’s treatment of the players, the committee reportedly is looking into allegations that an assistant coach wrote papers for several players, claims that players were given athletic shoes to sell and access to the school’s WATS line.