Although the 2007 men's basketball season didn't result with a successful record, players on the team were disappointed when Ronny Thompson resigned as coach.
Thompson hosted the Cardinals' players at his home to confirm rumors that he would be leaving the program Thursday, the same day the official announcement was made.
"He brought a lot out of me this season that I didn't know could come out of me," junior forward Anthony Newell said at a Friday press conference. "So he just kind of felt bad because he had to leave me and a few other players he brought a lot out of. It was just basically a lot of remorse [on Thompson's part] and feeling bad that he had to leave us like this."
Senior point guard Peyton Stovall, who was not in attendance at the players' meeting with Thompson, said he had heard speculation that Thompson was leaving the team for nearly a month.
However, he said he was surprised to hear the news when Thompson did resign.
"I knew things were a little bit scratchy with the racial things and the violations, but I didn't know it would amount to this," Stovall said. "As a player, when you hear [those rumors] you don't think it's going to happen. Until it actually comes true, you don't really realize it."
Other student athletes, and students at Ball State were surprised to see Thompson go. While Thompson left on his own accord, junior football player Marcus McClure said he feels Thompson was pushed out.
"I didn't know him personally, but I assumed he was a good coach," McClure said Sunday. "I feel he was kind of driven away from Ball State due to all the hate letters and things of that nature."
Despite the letters with racial slurs, McClure said he doesn't believe racism is a problem at Ball State.
"I think this is a pretty good campus, pretty diverse campus," McClure said.
Freshman Ball State student Justin Davis said the color of Thompson's skin shouldn't be a reason to dislike him.
"Racism, that's what they had back in slavery, that's just stupid," Davis said. "It shouldn't matter what color he is, he's the coach."
Tim Hoffman, a senior Ball State student, said he believes the racial issues aren't as a big of a deal as they have become.
"I think it's kind of bogus, I wasn't really too worried about it," Hoffman said. "I think the racial issues are blown out of proportion because I don't really think it is an issue here at school."
The Cardinals will have six returning players next season. Thompson had eight recruits commit to Ball State before his departure. Those players, if they honor their commitments, will fill out the rest of the lineup. The only two recruits that are not currently on campus are C.J. Clark of Texas and Kevin Ford of Oregon.
None of the eight recruits come from Indiana. Thompson's failure to recruit in this state has been one of the biggest complaints about the former coach.
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins said Friday he will be looking for a coach that can recruit the talent in Indiana.
"I want to bring in a leader and somebody who can recruit Indiana kids," Collins said.
However, Davis said even though Indiana is full of good recruits, he is not upset at Thompson for not attempting to get any of them.
"Indiana is the basketball state, but if you look at the recruits he got, he got some blue-chip players, some top-notch players," Davis said. "He is coach so he can do whatever he wants. As long as he is recruiting and getting young players that are good, it shouldn't really matter."
Students and fans have criticized Collins on local message boards. However, Collins said Friday he feels the fans are on his side.
"I think all the fans still feel deeply about the program, I can tell from the e-mails they send," Collins said. "I've had a lot of people send me e-mails just saying to hang in there. I haven't gotten a lot of general e-mails from fans showing displeasure with the department."
Newell said he is doing his best to help the recruits through the transition process.
"We're trying to just calm them down a little bit because they're young and don't really understand that it's a business," Newell said.
Collins said Friday he understood having a new head coach for the third consecutive season would be difficult on the players.
" ... My job now is to look after the student athletes," Collins said. "Many of the student athletes are in summer school right now and we're going to be working with them to make sure they finish well. We've been in phone and e-mail contact with our student athletes and are reaching out to them and their families as well."
Though its been a difficult summer for the men's basketball program, Stovall said he is still focused on the game itself.
"We're here to play basketball and that's what me and my teammates are supposed to do," Stovall said. "Throughout all those rumors and stuff, off the court you can talk about it. But when we're on the court and in the weight room, that stuff doesn't even come up. So when it's time to work, it's time to work, and all this other stuff doesn't matter."
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