For players on Ball State University men's basketball team, the last month of the season was unsuccessful. The Cardinals finished the season losing five of six games while rumors circulated the locker room that their coach, Tim Buckley, may not be around next season.
Buckley spoke to his team a day after its season-ending loss to Buffalo in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Buckley told them he wasn't sure whether he would coach the team for the 2006-07 season, junior Peyton Stovall said.
"It was a tough meeting especially for us older guys," Stovall said. "He said his goodbyes and everything just in case. To see your head coach leaving, it was hard for us."
A week after Buckley met with his players, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins announced that Buckley would be reassigned to University Development and all three of his assistant coaches were fired.
"It wasn't a huge shock because of the rumors we had heard," Stovall said. "It was just a disappointment."
The team has continued to meet under the supervision of Michael Bennett, Ball State's head of basketball operations. Stovall and junior Skip Mills have been helping lead the meetings and helping Bennett push players to continue their off-season workouts without a coach.
It's been difficult to get everybody on board with their workouts and that about 25 percent of the players aren't entirely focused yet, Mills said.
"People who are motivated to play without a coach are probably the players who really care about the team," Mills said. "Sometimes people need somebody to push them to go to their full ability."
Stovall said that a few players are waiting to see who and what type of coach is brought into the program before they make decisions on whether to play for the Cardinals again next season.
Seven freshmen were a part of the team this year and four of them will be experiencing the first offseason of their college career in the upcoming months. Stovall said some of the new players are having trouble with the adjustment period between coaches.
"Without an actual coach, guys can kind of stray easily," Stovall said.
Collins has already begun the interviewing process for a new head coach and had received more than 30 applications for the position by mid-week. Mills said that Collins hasn't asked for any input from players during the hiring process.
"I trust him to bring the right coach in," Mills said.
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