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Coaching Legacy of Joe Hargrove: A Controversial Return to the Bench

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Old 01-29-2011, 01:15 PM   #1
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Coaching Legacy of Joe Hargrove: A Controversial Return to the Bench

I know no one was following the other thread, but just completely disregard it. I picked Saint Louis thinking they'd be a "project". I simulate through the first season and they make the Final Four. Not really what I was going for. The back story and every thing is the same. I'm just going to go somewhere other than Saint Louis. Probably DePaul or Wichita State.
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Old 01-29-2011, 01:15 PM   #2
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Re: Coaching Legacy of Joe Hargrove: A Controversial Return to the Bench

January 15, 2010


"Hargrove Arrested on Charges of Sexual Assault"

"Coach Hargrove to Serve Time Behind Bars"

"Say It Ain't Say So Joe!"


Those were just some of the headlines throughout the month of April 1997. Coach Joe Hargrove, the once beloved head basketball coach of DII Eastern Kansas, was arrested on sexual assault charges against three of his former players. Hargrove had spent 16 years as the head coach for the the Eastern Kansas Thrashers, taking his team to the DII NCAA tournament 10 times in that time including two appearances in the Final Four. He had become something of a legend in a small town not known for, well, anything really.

"I was shocked when this all came out. Everyone I had talked to said they loved Coach Hargrove. Former players, people in the community, fans, opposing coaches...just everyone, really. I remember the phone call I received that night. It was about 9:30 p.m. I had just sat down to have a glass of scotch and watch the local evening news at 10:00. The phone rang and when I answered it I could almost sense something awful had happened. It was the Leavenworth Police Department. My jaw dropped as they delivered the news. After I hung up the phone I sat there on my couch, motionless, for what felt like an eternity. Coach Hargrove is the last person I ever expected to do something like this. I didn't sleep much that night as I tossed and turned trying to think of the best way to handle the situation the next day. I knew I had no choice but to let Coach Hargrove go. It wasn't going to be easy, though
. I considered Joe a close and personal friend, and now I had to fire him. Just devastating." -Eastern Kansas University AD Frank Ballentine


It was truly a shocking moment for the town of Leavenworth, Kansas. A town of just 35,000 had grown to love their Lady Thrasher basketball, under the tutelage of Coach Hargrove.

"My daughter played for him and she just loved every minute of it. Said he always got his point across in a non-threatening manner and was an excellent coach. I never heard any of the girls complain about him, let alone ever hint about something this tragic." It really bothers me, though, knowing my daughter spent four years with him almost on a daily basis. And those other girls...it's just sad." Glinda Buskey, mom of former player


The case did eventually go trial, but with testimonies from all three former players (Sara Horn, Deedee Thompkins, and Cierra Vaught) it was obvious what was going to happen. Coach Hargrove was sentenced to serve 30 years behind bars. Due to good character references he would be available for parole after 15 years based on good behavior.

After digging I could only find a few comments from Coach Hargrove from that dark time nearly 14 years ago. This is the one that stuck out the most to me.

"I don't know what to say. I stand firm in saying I did not do this. I am 100% guilty. I have no way to prove it because it is my word against three girls I used to have nothing but respect for. They were all three incredible players who worked their tails off for me during their entire career. I never laid a hand on any of them, and I have no idea why they felt the need to bring this out. What gets me is the outlandish stories they came up with to make this sound true. It hurts me. It hurts me to see these three young ladies do this. Not only to me, but to themselves and this school. I have nothing else to do except hope that someday, somehow, the truth comes out."

The three women accusing Coach Hargrove of sexual assault are Cierre Vaught (1992-1996), Sara Horn (1993-1997), and Deedee Thompkins (1993-1997) all played for Hargrove in the final years of his career and were the only ones to ever come forward with accusations. Even though it's been nearly 13 years since the incident and Hargrove was at the school for 16 seasons, it does seem a little fishy to me that these are the only three former players to come forward. Experience in investigating similar stories have shown me that once one or two women come forward with accusations of sexual abuse, the floodgates open, and others join them. However, that was not the case with this story.
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Old 01-29-2011, 01:16 PM   #3
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Re: Coaching Legacy of Joe Hargrove: A Controversial Return to the Bench

June 18th, 2010



The three players who accused former Eastern Kansas University women's basketball coach, Joe Hargrove, of sexual assault 14 years ago held a news conference this afternoon. What came from it called for a time of remorse, shame, embarrassment, and excitement. I will explain after I share the transcript from today's press conference.




================================================== =====

Cierre Vaught, DeeDee Thompkins, and Sara Horn sit together in front of a group of 40-50 reporters

Cierre Vaught:
We have gathered you here today to share something we are not proud of and something we have been keeping inside for 14 years now. It isn't going to be easy, but after long discussion, all three of us decided living with this guilt could not go on.

Fourteen years ago the three of us came forward to the media and accused coach Joe Hargrove of sexual assault. We had stories, convincing ones at that, to back up our claims. Our reasoning for doing this does not make any of us proud. I will let Sara get into that, though.


Sara Horn: Let me get started...Well, we had just wrapped up the regular season with another conference championship. I remember it so vividly, even 14 years later. Cierra, Deedee, and myself were leaving the gym and walking to our cars after the game. The game had been over for at least an hour and the only people still at the gym were coach Hargrove and the cleaning crew. As we were heading towards our cars, though, this SUV came roaring into the parking lot behind us. It caught us off guard. The vehicle pulled up next to us as we were walking and came to a stop. The driver rolled down his window and asked if we had a few minutes to talk. He seemed nice enough, so we said sure, but we were not going to get in the car with him. He said that was fine and we agreed to meet him at a little cafe downtown.

The conversation that transpired at the cafe seemed almost like a dream. I'm not even sure why I went along with this insane plan at first. The man, who told us he was Kevin Winters (we assume now that was not true), said he had a proposition for us. A little reluctant to carry on at that point I told him to hit us with it. Mr. Winters then said he had a way to get us all three $500,000 cash. All we had to do was come forward and accuse coach Hargrove of sexually assaulting us.

I'm going to let Deedee take it from here....


DeeDee Thompkins: All three of us were in shock that he would suggest something so asinine. We told him thanks but no thanks and immediately left the restaurant. This all happened in March 1995, so Sarah and myself were sophomores and Cierra was a junior. Some time passed and we never heard from or saw Mr. Winters again. Then, I think it was sometime in July of that same summer, I got back to my apartment that was right off-campus and saw a note taped on the door. It said, "You're going to regret not accepting my offer." I got very scared and went inside and immediately called the police. They told me there was nothing they could do. All three of us were living together at that time and I nervously sat in our living room waiting for them to get home. They finally arrived several hours later and I told them of the note. It of course, worried all three of us a great deal, but a few days turned into a few weeks, and we pushed it to the back of our minds.

However, a month before the season started in the fall of 1996, we were all three getting out of my car to get in a late night workout after a night class we took together. As we walked into the gym we heard something behind us. As we turned around we saw a car barreling its way right towards my car. It was like it was happening in slow motion. I just stood there and could only watch as this old beat up Ford Bronco rammed it's way into my tiny little VW Beetle. It of course completely totaled it. The Bronco, hardly damaged, sped out of the parking lot. We called the police and they spent the next few weeks investigating but never found anything. Fortunately, I had vehicle insurance, and was able to get a replacement. But I was still pretty shaken up about it.

Cierra, can you finish the story?


Cierra: Sure....Over the next 4 or 5 months a series of strange events unraveled. But the one that pushed us over the edge occurred after a night game. We had a couple of our guy friends wait to escort us to our cars that night. This is something we had been doing for awhile, just to be safe. However, on this particular night, as we were exiting the back doors of the arena, two men in ski masks hopped down off the edge of the roof. I'd say it's probably only a 10-12 foot jump from the very edge with the way it angles down. One of them had a baseball bat and the other had a 2x4. In a matter of seconds they knocked the guys out and three more men came up from behind us. They grabbed us, threw bags over our heads, and I don't know what happened next. A little while later we were sitting int eh basement of a house. We were tied up to some old dining room chairs. There were three men in the room with us pacing back and forth with smirks on their faces. At this point all three of us were crying and screaming through the gags they had in our mouths. What followed was nearly an hour of them torturing us. Threatening harm to our family members, teammates, and even coach. They also took advantage of our vulnerability and sexually molested us. After about 45 minutes to an hour of this, they finally asked if we would cooperate. The offer of $500,000 was reduced to just $25,000, but we felt like we had no choice.

It's been over 14 years since we falsely accused coach Hargrove of sexually assaulting us. We can not explain to you all how sorry we are. This has been something that has eaten all three of us up since the day it happened. We just felt like, with all the other events leading up to that dark day, we had no choice but to do this. We have proof that we all three privately donated our combined $75,000 to the school. We felt guilty having it.


================================================== ======

As you can see, an extremely emotional day here in Leavenworth. While it the details are being cleared up for the next few days, it seems clear that coach Hargrove has indeed been innocent this entire time. While what his former players did was deceitful and very shameful, I did receive word they would not be in trouble. We are hoping to have a sit down interview with coach Hargrove later in the week if we can get him to agree.
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Old 01-29-2011, 01:17 PM   #4
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Re: Coaching Legacy of Joe Hargrove: A Controversial Return to the Bench

June 23rd, 2010


I approached coach Hargrove numerous times in a variety of ways, hoping to get an interview with him. He politely said now the first few times. However, I remained persistent, and finally got him to cave. However, he was not willing to do much talking, and unfortunately, the interview was just a few questions long.



Me: Coach, when you saw the footage of the press conference the girls had for the first time, what was going through your mind?

Hargrove: My heart honestly ached for them. I know what they did to me was wrong and I'd be lying to you if I said I hadn't grown to strongly dislike them over the last 14 years. However, hearing that story, and knowing how much I cared for all of my players, it just hurt me to know they were going through something so terrible at the time. And they never once approached me and told me of the situation. I have no ill feelings towards the three women anymore.

Me: But still, they accused you of a malicious crime, one you were not guilty of, and you have not even the slightest best of discontent towards them?

Hargrove: No sir. I know those girls and now know they never wanted to do what they did. They just felt like they had to do it or someone they loved was going to be injured or worse.

Me: Coach, now that you're hands are clean of this mess, do you plan on getting back into coaching? This story has made you somewhat of a sentimental hero, and it appears there are number of D1 men's jobs that are showing some interest.

Hargrove: Ever since I got out of jail it seems like all I've done is answer the blasted phone. I'm 57 years old. I feel like I'm too old to jump back into coaching but I miss it. Boy do I miss it. Basketball was my first love and some of the schools wanting to give me an opportunity to coach their team are wonderful places. I just don't know right now. I can't decide what I want to do.

Me: Any idea of when you might know?

Hargrove: No sir, but I will tell you this...I would stay close to your TV, or phone, or whatever, for the next few months.
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Old 01-29-2011, 01:19 PM   #5
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Re: Coaching Legacy of Joe Hargrove: A Controversial Return to the Bench

Once Shunned, Now Loved, Hargrove Announces Decision to Return to Coaching

August 3rd, 2010


We've shared with you the climatic story of Joe Hargrove. A coach wrongfully accused of sexual assault spending the last 14 years of his life behind bars. Now 57 years old, Hargrove has announced he will be returning to the game he loves.

"I've had 15 to 20 offers over the last month. All of them from more than fine schools. I had to narrow my list, though, and it was tough. Being born and raised in the Midwest, staying close to home was appealing to me. Fortunately, a good portion of my offers were coming from schools in that area, and even some of them were programs from a power conference. It wasn't easy, but these are the six schools I narrowed my list down to...

Iowa
Iowa State
Saint Louis
Wichita State
DePaul
Cincinnati


After heavily weighing all of my options, one job stuck out to more more than the others. It's in a big time conference in a hot bed for basketball recruits. It was a once proud program, and attempting to return them to glory is something I very much look forward to doing. That is why, today, I am announcing my decision to accept the head coaching position at the following school....



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Old 01-29-2011, 02:05 PM   #6
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Re: Coaching Legacy of Joe Hargrove: A Controversial Return to the Bench

haha well good luck in the Big East... I was pretty excited to see an A-10 legacy but oh well haha good luck!
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Old 01-29-2011, 02:29 PM   #7
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Re: Coaching Legacy of Joe Hargrove: A Controversial Return to the Bench

Quote:
Originally Posted by VandyRedskins21
haha well good luck in the Big East... I was pretty excited to see an A-10 legacy but oh well haha good luck!
I was excited about doing one. It just made no sense haha. I simmed every game of the first season, went 26-3, won the A-10 regular season title and tournament. Then I simmed and made it all the way to the Final Four. What kind of story does that make if I make it to the Final Four my first season with Saint Louis?
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Old 01-29-2011, 05:07 PM   #8
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Re: Coaching Legacy of Joe Hargrove: A Controversial Return to the Bench

2009 DePaul Preview






Meet the Players

Point Guards
Starter: Willie Walker, 6'0" 180, JR
Back-up Jeremiah Kelly, 6'1", 175, FR

Shooting Guards
Starter:
Jabari Currie, 6'4" 215, SR
Back-up: Michael Bizoukas, 6'1" 175, FR

Small Forwards
Starter: Dar Tucker, 6'5" 210, SO
Back-up: Mario Stula, 6'7" 210, SO

Power Forwards
Starter: Matua Poscic, 6'10" 235, SR
Back-up: Devin Hill, 6'9" 210, FR

Centers
Starter: Mac Koshwal, 6'10" 240, SO
Back-up: Kene Obi, 7'2" 260, FR


Coach Hargrove made a statement about his 2008-2009 roster and what he plans to address in recruiting...

"We've got a young team. Seven freshmen and sophomores. We've got to rely more on our perimeter play this year. Devin [Hill] is a natural SF, but due to our lack of frontcourt depth we are going to have to rely on him to play a lot of PF for us this year. I like the promise ov Kene [Obi]. He's very raw right now, but at 7'2" he just has something you can't teach and that's incredible size.

As far as recruiting goes, we've got seven scholarships to work with. We will be going after several frontcourt players and be looking to add at least one PG and one SG."







Big East Preview

  1. (2) Pittsburgh
  2. (3) Notre Dame
  3. (5) Connecticut
  4. (7) Louisville
  5. (18) Marquette
  6. (20) Syracuse
  7. (22) Villanova
  8. Georgetown
  9. West Virginia
  10. Cincinnati
  11. Seton Hall
  12. St. John's
  13. Providence
  14. DePaul
  15. Rutgers
  16. South Florida



2009 Recruiting Targets

  1. SF Derek Spencer, 6'6" 212, West Memphis, AR (5*, #4 SF):
  2. SG Nathan Daniels, 6'1" 178, Macomb, IL (5*, #19 SG)
  3. SG Jason Peters, 6'1" 201, Grand Island, NE (5*, #34 SG)
  4. PF Curt Dooley, 6'9" 204, Chicago, IL (4*, #30 PF)
  5. C Paul Gates, 6'9" 247, Hopkinsville, KY (4*, #53 C)
  6. SG Al Rivera, 6'2" 204 (4*, #52 SG)
  7. PG Justin Small, 6'2" 162, Rocky Mount, NC (4*, #31 PG)
  8. PF Peter Waters, 6'9" 210, Gainesville, TX (4*, #62 PF)
  9. SF Ben Anthony, 6'8" 205, Beloit, KS (4*, #67 SF)
  10. PF Robin Grissom, 6'10" 208, Boulder, CO (4*, #69 PF)
  11. C Levar Hardy, 6'11" 252, Glenview, IL (4*, #113 C)

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