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SoCal College News Report

VC Coach "Probably" Gone. . .Not Sure--(November 4, 1997)

The saga continues.

Ventura Coach Glen Hefferman, who reportedly left town last Thursday, and may have quit as men's basketball coach at Ventura College, confirmed for the LA Times that he has in fact moved to Chicago because of Ventura's unsuccessful appeal of a two-year probation imposed by the Western State Conference.

Chicago's a pretty long commute.

Whether Hefferman will return is unknown, and we really doubt he will. But Hefferman told the Times, "I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I gotta make a decision real soon. But right now, I'm not in the best of health or the best of spirits."

On Monday about 12 players (those who are still eligible) met with VC Athletic Coordinator Dick James and assistants Laurian Watkins and Jeff Theiler regarding their status.

"We gave the kids their options and they said they needed more time," Theiler told the LA Times. "Some of them don't want to play. Some of them do. Some are on the fence. The kids who want to play are trying to convince the ones who don't."

Hefferman, 31, was hired in August, after being lured from Columbia College in Sonora. He claims that VC administrators intentionally failed to inform him before he was hired of the possibility of penalties being assessed against the program.

"They should have been honest with me when I was hired," Hefferman told the Times. "I never would have taken the job. If I was told the truth, there wouldn't be this mess."

Hefferman claims that Steve Tobias, VC's athletic dean "admitted" the lie, and "apologized" for it. Tobias has denied either lying or apologizing, but did say, "I don't think there was any attempt by anyone at Ventura College to withhold information from Glen Hefferman. There was an apology, possibly. But if I apologized, it was because I was disappointed he had become caught up in this mess."

Hefferman left town late Thursday after being informed that sanctions against Ventura would remain, and after several players were also declared ineligible.

At this point, the school is simply waiting until it knows whether it will have a coach or any players before looking for a replacement for Hefferman.

"He knows he has a job until he resigns," said Dick James. "Until he plays his hand. . . . "

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