Ventura Program on Life Support

The Ventura College men’s basketball program remains alive--for now, at least--and its players are kicking.

After an impassioned closed-door meeting Thursday in which more than a dozen players argued vehemently among themselves whether to play or sit out the season, administrators delayed a decision whether to suspend the program for one year.

At least six players said they want to play, despite a two-year probation imposed by the Western State Conference and the apparent resignation of Coach Glen Hefferman, who last week moved to Chicago.

Four players said they won’t play. The rest remain undecided--as do administrators regarding the future of the once-powerful program that won state championships in 1995 and 1996.

“We need more time,” college President Larry Calderon said.

Calderon spoke briefly with players before leaving them to themselves. Administrators declined further comment, other than to say a decision might be reached today or Monday.

Players said they were told the decision rests with them.

“Basically, [Calderon] said, ‘It’s up to you guys,’ ” said Donzell Hayes, a freshman guard. “ ‘Yes or no?’ ”

The question, for some, appeared difficult to answer.

Inside a conference room adjacent to the school gym, players could be heard raising their voices. Several exited during the 30-minute meeting, some shaking their heads in frustration.

“It’s a bunch of confusion in there,” forward B.J Rogers said. “A lot of arguing. Some guys want to play, others don’t. ‘I’m going to play, I’m not going to play. . . .’ I’ve decided to consider this a redshirt year. I’ve made up my mind.”

Hayes said he wants to play but the team is far from unified.

“We lost focus in there about what we’re trying to do,” Hayes said. “It was all a bunch of arguing about what ifs: What if we lose by 30 every game? What if we can’t guard the other team’s superstars?”

Danny Herrera, Jimmy Sanders, Andre Jackson, Sean MacDougal and Jonathan Cooper also said will play. After the meeting, they signed an impromptu roster circulated by Dick James, Ventura’s athletic coordinator.

Adrian Coffey, Brandy Manning, Charles Robinson and Ben Tryk said they will not play.

Tryk, who wrote a letter this week to Calderon urging him to shut down the program, said he will not reconsider.

“I’ve said all I’m going to say,” Tryk said. “I’m not going to play.”

Herrera, a former teammate of Tryk’s at Santa Paula High, was optimistic.

“About eight of us are willing to play,” he said. “And we’re trying to get three or four guys off the football team.”

Hefferman, who was hired in August, did not submit a letter of resignation before moving out of his Ventura apartment last week and joining his wife and three children in Chicago.

Hefferman, who has phoned in sick since Friday, accuses administrators of intentionally failing to inform him the program was under investigation before he was hired.

Hefferman resigned as coach at Columbia College in Sonora to take the Ventura position as a replacement for Jim Keating, who accepted the job but abruptly reconsidered.

Hefferman said he has consulted with an attorney and has not spoken with administrators.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Hefferman said Thursday. “The working conditions right now are horrendous and intolerable. How can they expect someone to come in there and coach a team like nothing happened?”