On espn.com today there is a profile by Dana O'Neil on Abar Rouse. He was the assistant coach who taped Dave Bliss' efforts to paint the murdered Baylor player Patrick Dennehy as a drug dealer in order to cover up illegal payments Bliss had made. The tapes were made public and Rouse has been essentially blacklisted from coaching. He is currently working the night shift manufacturing airplane parts. Aside from the fact that it is an interesting story, I was drawn to a reference made in the article to Coach K. In particular, O'Neil seems to insinuate comments made by Coach in a 2003 interview had a direct impact on Rouse's current unemployment. She writes:
Many coaches, including Hall of Famers Jim Boeheim and Mike Krzyzewski, have said that Rouse had crossed the line. "If one of my assistants would tape every one of my conversations with me not knowing it, there's no way he would be on my staff," Krzyzewski told "Outside the Lines" in 2003. The rank and file has fallen in step.
And in fact in Rouse's own lawsuit against his former attorney (he claims she released the tapes in violation of attorney-client privilege) makes a similar allegation.
Seeking $1.5 million in damages, Rouse alleges in the lawsuit that McNamara released the tapes to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and as written in the lawsuit, if she "had exercised proper care and diligence Rouse would not have been 'blacklisted' in the college basketball community where top college basketball coaches opined on ESPN sports network that they would not hire him."
So my question is, does anyone remember the interview in question here? Her use of that quote out of context seems more convenient than accurate to me. What has happened to Rouse is indeed very unfortunate, and the article is very sympathetic to his plight. However, I don't see how O'Neil is able to jump from Coach K making a comment on ESPN to the entire profession "falling in step." Am I reading into this too much, or is she really insinuating that Coach K (and apparently Jim Boeheim) are somehow leading the blackmailing of this man? Obviously within any social or professional group those with clout hold a certain amount of influence, but I think that O'Neil takes that a step further than is warranted in this case. Or maybe I'm just a defensive Duke fan who sees an allegation that's not really there. Any thoughts?