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SoCal College News

Ventura College: We're Outta Here
Say Coach and Players--(October 30, 1997)

You'd have to have been living under a rock not to have heard about the trouble at Ventura College.

Now because of the sanctions imposed on the school, half the team is threatening to leave, the other half won't play, and the coach might quit. Big change after Ventura won the State title in 1996. Big shock for a new coach who was hired without being warned about the sanctions.

The team has received a number of sanctions from the Western States Conference, including a two year ban on post-season play and the formation by Ventura College of an "athletic oversight committee" to govern the future of the team. The sanctions were imposed after a five-month investigation revealed a number of recruiting violations by boosters and by former Ventura Coach Virgil Watson. The charges included illegal recruiting, players being given money, free meals, improper access to campus facilities, and improper use of school vehicles. The WSC has already stripped Ventura of its 1996 and 1997 conference, titles. The Ventura Pirates 1996 also won the State Community College Championship, and that title too is in jeopardy of being revoked by the Community College State Commission on Athletics.

On Wednesday, October 29, 1997, the team and coach appealed to the WSC to reverse the probation. In a published report in the LA Times, Coach Glenn Hefferman was quoted as saying, "The decision that the conference makes not only will have an impact on my players' future, it will definitely have a big impact on my future," Hefferman said. "About half the team says they're going to transfer. The other half say they won't play." Hefferman has threatened to look for another job if the team remains on probation.

On Wednesday, members of the team and the coaching staff appeared at an appeals session before WSC officials in Santa Monica, to attempt to reverse the probation decision. Coach Glen Hefferman came to the Ventura job without any knowledge of the violations, or the probation imposition. A number of players stated they would transfer rather than play on probation. "If we're on probation, I won't play," sophomore forward Adrian Coffey said. "It's as simple as that."

Coffey, and seven other players spoke before the WSC appeals committee at Santa Monica College, pleading for the conference to reconsider its October 8 decision to place the program on probation. According to the Times, Coffey explained, "I came to show my support and to show all the people in the conference room who they're hurting. By the looks on their faces, I don't know if it did any good."

Ventura Coach Glen Hefferman, college President Larry Calderon and athletic coordinator Dick James also spoke at the
meeting. The conference will release its decision soon. Hefferman told the Times that "I wanted to personally make a plea on behalf of my players. None of the players I have brought with me have done anything wrong, and I don't think it's fair that they be punished for something somebody else might have done."

Freshman guard Jonathan Cooper, who moved from his native Chicago to enroll at Ventura, told the Times that he was uncertain about his future. "Some guys are thinking about leaving school," Cooper said. "Some just don't want to be here." Sophomore guard Ben Tryk, a transfer from Moorpark, echoed Cooper, telling the Times "We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into."

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