Eastern Michigan fires basketball coach Charles Ramsey
After six seasons coaching the Eastern Michigan basketball team, Charles Ramsey has been fired, the school announced Wednesday morning.
An Ypsilanti native, Ramsey's team finished the 2010-11 season with a 9-22 overall record and went 5-11 in the MAC. The Eagles were 1-13 on the road this season.
Ramsey had come to Eastern Michigan after spending four years as an assistant at Michigan under Tommy Amaker.
"After thorough and extensive review, I have determined that it is in the best interests of the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball program to change direction," EMU athletic director Derrick Gragg said in a written statement.
"Charles Ramsey has worked hard and had some accomplishments along the way, particularly in the academic success rates of our student athletes. He has many strong qualities and we wish him success in his future."
Comments
genetracy
Fri, Apr 8, 2011 : 2:52 a.m.
It is time for EMU to exit Division 1 athletics.
Rob Pollard
Thu, Apr 7, 2011 : 2:53 p.m.
Last comment on this, so we don't go around in circle: Cash, I honestly don't know what "If they take any designated fund monies to pay a general fund payroll cost..." means. Designated funds go to designated areas - i.e., to the "revenue generating activity." In this case, athletics guarantee funds (e.g., guarantees from football and basketball games) are going to pay for an athletics expense. That sounds pretty simple. If the regents (which includes Stapleton) want to designate athletic guarantee funds to pay for, say another English faculty member, they can do so in the normal budgeting process and decrease the amount of designated funds. But unless he shows money is being shifted out of the the already agreed upon general fund to pay for this, he's wrong. Academics - "the kids" - aren't being affected at all by this. BTW, in the Echo story, Larcom doesn't contradict what he said before: he said, "Those costs (associated with the job action) will be paid out of the remaining balance of game guarantees funds from football and basketball." Same as before.
Carol
Thu, Apr 7, 2011 : 9:18 a.m.
<a href="http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/article/2011/04/emu_dismisses_ramsey_as_coach" rel='nofollow'>http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/article/2011/04/emu_dismisses_ramsey_as_coach</a>
Cash
Thu, Apr 7, 2011 : 11:07 a.m.
Thanks Carol. It seems Larcom changed the wording a bit eh? And the Echo as always does some great interviews and fair reporting!
Cash
Thu, Apr 7, 2011 : 9:04 a.m.
Rob, If they take any designated fund monies to pay a general fund payroll cost, then they can do that for ALL general fund payroll costs....professors, lecturers, other coaches etc......so the funds CAN and should be spent for education. That is what Stapleton said and he's right.
Rob Pollard
Thu, Apr 7, 2011 : 2:10 a.m.
Cash, thanks for the link to the budget. Perhaps I'm reading it wrong, but it says on page 2: - General Fund: Tuition & Fees; State Support; Misc. Other, which includes "Athletic Related Revenue" - Designated Fund: Funds where use designated by university policy to the revenue generating activity: Athletics Game Guarantee, etc. In short, "Designated Funds" are NOT "General Fund". They are formally designated as separate. Also, Athletics Game Guarantee revenue is clearly in Designated Funds, which is where the spokesman specifically said the money was coming from. Thus, Stapleton is wrong. He is directly saying money is being taken away from "kids" and their schooling when those funds aren't "designated" for academics in the first place. If he can show a line item where funds are shifted over from the General Fund to take care of this $175k, he should produce it. Otherwise, it was all going to be spent on athletics anyway. Further proof: from an AnnArbor.com story from a few months ago about Game Guarantee Revenue: "The money that is raised helps fund a variety of items in the athletic department budget, including the Mid-American Conference membership fee, the football turf,..." The money is clearly for athletics, not something else. <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/sports/eastern-michigan-university-to-get-more-than-5-million-in-payments-for-football-games-in-next-four-s/">http://www.annarbor.com/sports/eastern-michigan-university-to-get-more-than-5-million-in-payments-for-football-games-in-next-four-s/</a>
Cash
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 9:21 p.m.
<a href="http://www.emich.edu/budget/docs/General-Fund-FY10-Overview-Tuition-Update.pdf" rel='nofollow'>http://www.emich.edu/budget/docs/General-Fund-FY10-Overview-Tuition-Update.pdf</a> Rob...He didn't say donations was paying for this...he said athletic revenue will pay for it. There's the budget explanation shown above on page two showing that athletic revenue is general fund revenue to prove the point. Here's the quote from Larcom: " He said the school will use money brought in by guarantee payments to the football and basketball teams to cover the cost of Ramsey's contract and has about $26,000 in donated funds that it will be using for the new coach search." Money brought in from general fund athletics IS general fund revenue....and THAT is what he says will pay the $176,000. The SEARCH for the new coach is said to be partly paid by donated funds.....not sure what donors will think of that, but that's what he says.
Rob Pollard
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 9:13 p.m.
Cash, you are wrong. Donations are frequently restricted in higher education, so you can't say, "Well, you donated X dollars for the swim team - thanks, but I'll spend it on sanitation or the English dept. instead." If there are donations to athletics, that's where they stay. That's not a "shell game"; if you tried doing that with targeted donations, pretty soon, you'd have fewer donations. Regarding the other part, the "guaranteed payments," those are generated by athletics as well, e.g., EMU football getting $850k to get drilled by OSU. So that's not a shell game either - it was money generated by athletics and it is being used to pay for athletics.
Cash
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 9 p.m.
Rob Pollard.....the revenue they speak of SHOULD be general fund revenue.....just because it comes from athletics is not material...it is STILL general fund and could be used for educational purposes. It's a shell game NFP entities play. The money is still general fund revenue.
Rob Pollard
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 8:14 p.m.
I will only give Jim Stapleton "credit" if he's speaking the truth about the buyout. He states, "Athletics at universities like EMU are funded out of the general fund. Our primary mission is to educate kids." However, EMU's spokesman in the same article said, "EMU will not use general fund money to pay for this," and then details exactly where the money will come from. In short, unless the spokesman is lying, Stapleton is grandstanding about "educating kids," which aren't affected one iota by this. BTW, his ending statement of "But that is Sue Martin." indicates he has a bigger axe to grind and is just being a crank. It's fine being a crank, but you better be factually right. P.S. Ramsay deserved to be fired. He had six years and the team was going nowhere - they were truly awful this year.
A2 is a Utopia
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 6:04 p.m.
I am really sad to read Ramsey was fired. I really thought he turned the program around and they were headed towards the gutter I am mean in the right direction under his outstanding leadership. Lets just hope EMU can hire a coach that knows how to recruit and put together a group of players that resembles a basketball team.
Cash
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 5:42 p.m.
Bill, Yes, I just saw that! Amazing! I have NEVER in my life heard a regent on any BOR speak out against the president of the school before!!! I have to give him credit for speaking out!!! Guts!!! Regents are usually the "yes men" at every school.
Bill Boles
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 5:20 p.m.
Looks like the Free Press has a better story on this: <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20110406/SPORTS08/110406024/EMU-regent-blasts-Charles-Ramsey-s-firing-We-can-t-afford-new-coach?odyssey=tab" rel='nofollow'>http://www.freep.com/article/20110406/SPORTS08/110406024/EMU-regent-blasts-Charles-Ramsey-s-firing-We-can-t-afford-new-coach?odyssey=tab</a>|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
lumberg48108
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 4:50 p.m.
I was never convinced he was a good coach and he has ample time to prove it! Last year EMU had the best team in more than a decade and the best it could do was a .500 record! Losses to smaller schools mounted this season and it was apparent he is not the coach to return EMU to respectability! Obviously, hiring the right coach is important and lets hope the AD picks the right candidate, and not some sexy choice (like he did with football)
Cash
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 3:24 p.m.
Carl, I think a lot of us expected this year to be a lot better than it was. I hope that Mr Ramsey lands on his feet....never happy to see someone fired, especially a native Ypsilantian.
Carl
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 3:20 p.m.
Good bye I wish it would have been better I had such high hopes.
Cash
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 3:09 p.m.
This makes sense.......... <a href="http://www.mlive.com/broncos/index.ssf/2011/04/eastern_michigan_should_consid.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.mlive.com/broncos/index.ssf/2011/04/eastern_michigan_should_consid.html</a> Go Eagles!
InsideTheHall
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 2:59 p.m.
Hire Dane Fife! Current head coach @ IUPUFW with ties to the area plus his dad (head cocah @ Clarkston HS) can provide plenty of contacts within the HS coaching ranks to recruit locally.
48104
Wed, Apr 6, 2011 : 2:32 p.m.
"But we'd rather win more games and graduate fewer players, if that's what it takes."