Isiah Thomas Already Crying Foul
FIU threatens to pull out of match up with UNC
By TODD WRIGHT
Updated 7:23 PM EDT, Wed, Aug 26, 2009
The NCAA men's basketball season hasn't even started and FIU Coach Isiah Thomas is already working the refs.
Zeke is threatening to pull the Golden Panthers out of its season-opener against the University of North Carolina because the coach wants to play Ohio State.
The university claims organizers of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic promised FIU would be the sacrificial lamb for the Buckeyes, not the defending national champions. We fail to see the dignity in fighting for the right to be blown out by 40 instead of 70, but to each Hall of Famer his own.
Gazelle Group, which puts on the benefit for cancer research, said the contract signed by FIU stipulates they could be the opponent for UNC or OSU. They don't expect to let FIU back out of the match up and it's unclear what the NCAA will do if things don't get resolved before the Nov. 9 opener.
"I would be stunned if Isiah Thomas' first act as a head coach was to break a contract," Rick Giles said, according to the New York Daily News.
The contract was signed before Thomas signed on to be coach earlier this summer.
Thomas, of course, has Big Ten roots and in true prima donna fashion he knows he would be the marquee attraction in an FIU-Ohio State match up. But the boycott stance is sending the wrong message to the players.
Whatever happened to "in order to be the best, you have to beat the best?" At his initial press conference, Thomas vowed to elevate the FIU program from doormat to relevant and what better way than with a national stage?
Zeke never ran from a fight during his days in the NBA and he never ran and hid when being bombarded by criticism as a coach. Let's hope he goes back to his Bad Boy roots in this situation.
First Published: Aug 26, 2009 5:57 PM EDT on NBC Miami
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