[calipari4prez]

I sure don't see Rhodes "circling the wagons" to get anything straightened out any time soon. Especially considering that it is his fault that they are in this shape in the first place. It seems from reading everyones' posts that they are losing is because of the players that have "quit..."

The father of the two boys from Texas was fired and put out of his apartment the day before Christmas Eve, simply because Rhodes didn't want him here. Truth is, he felt threatened by him. With no job and no home, they had no choice but to return to Texas. Whatever problem he was having with that man, he let effect those boys. I'm sure they didn't pack up all their things and leave their friends and family to be treated like that.

The other three of the 5 that they have lost would be in part that he can't control his team at all. I guess that could be because I've heard from several sources that he doesn't even stay on the same floor as the players in the hotels. I just about bet if I could probe the players or any parents that were there that he is not only on a different floor but that he is staying in a much nicer room or a suite. How can you not expect players to misbehave or violate team rules...I mean heck, what else can happen when you leave 3 teenagers with no supervision at all, in which he later did.

As you are reading this, Im sure you are wondering why someone can be so against a man, that I would take this much time out of my day, to spend on this site typing something like this up....it's because of those three players that were kicked off of the team in Bracken County. Not only were they kicked off the team, but Rhodes forced the kids to turn in their warm-ups and traveling shoes in that he had given them. A justified act perhaps? I myself believe that they earned them, I mean what use is used traveling shoes? But even so, some can argue that he had a right to because they were no longer on the team. The problem is however, that one of the boys did not have any other shoes. Rhodes knew this and left the kid to fend for himself to find a pair to wear home....SERIOUSLY???? That kid was left to walk barefoot down the cold sidewalk and ask another player to borrow a pair to wear home the next day. This is only the beginning. I even heard from someone else that when feeding the kids the last meal before going home, he paid for some of the kids meals but asked for some to leave the line and left them to pay for their own, which he didn't even ask if they had money to do so, just because they weren't "varsity" players. I'm pretty sure that the money that is given to a basketball team is for the WHOLE team. When reading this, I believe that you are probably feeling what I was feeling when I got the multiple phone calls telling me of such...shock and anger.

This brings me to another problem that I feel is the downfall of this team. The fact that Rhodes has missed more games due to suspensions and his little outings than games that he has actually coached. Rumor even hasn't that he wasn't even suspended, but that he still didn't show up for a game in Bracken County. I have no idea why not, but it is a fact that he was not there. I thought a head coach was supposed to....um...i don't know....coach?

If you have reached this point in the post, I am sure that you are under the impression that I do not support this man at all. I want you to know that when he first came to Cordia, I was so excited about the possiblities and opportunities that he might be able to provide for those kids. A chance to prove to the Knott and Perry Centrals and Hazards and other big schools that they deserve a chance too. I'm tired of hearing Cordia being looked down upon and made fun of. I thought this man could put them back on the map and hold the school to the standards that they once held. The fact that this post even exists at all however shows that this isn't happening. All eyes were placed upon them for the first time in years because of this "high profile coach" and all those eyes are only seeing the program being torn apart.

I was once supportive of the man. I haven't had any ties to basketball for many years... but this isn't about basketball, this is about the kids. Which when kids go without food and shoes, and their confidence is at an all time low, it should be everyone else's priority as well.