Wichita State paying Gregg Marshall $7.75 million to go away is the system working as it's designed
Wichita State should be embarrassed that it came to this, but the truth is that your anger should be directed squarely at the NCAA system. This is the way that it is designed to work, unfortunately.
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Gregg Marshall was paid $7.75 million by Wichita State University for hitting a kid.
By now I’m sure that, if you’re reading this, you know. Marshall was accused by eight players of punching Shaq Morris in the back of the head at a practice in 2015. Two players, including Morris himself, went on the record with Jeff Goodman of Stadium to make that accusation. He was accused of choking then-assistant Kyle Lindsted during one outburst at a practice during the 2018-19 season. He was alleged to have crossed more than one racial boundary while verbally-abusing every subordinate in his program.
And when it all came to light, it cost Wichita State $7.75 million to finally get him to fuck off.
This is infuriating for a whole host of reasons that seem pretty obvious.
But Wichita State is not necessarily who you need to be pissed off at.
Because this is the way the system is designed to work. This is NCAA corruption and profiteering and “we can’t afford to pay the players” fuckery operating at its most efficient.
Gregg Marshall won at unprecedented levels at Wichita State. He got them to the Final Four. He got them a No. 1-seed. He sent a half-dozen players off to the NBA, some of whom look like they could end up earning nine figures before their playing careers come to a close. He helped to launch the careers of a number of successful assistant coaches. He gave the program enough name cache to see it be catapulted from the Missouri Valley to the American. He was compensated with a seven-year rolling contract that paid him about $3.5 million per year, which is more or less what he was worth on the open market. Remember, he turned down what was essentially a blank check from Alabama a few years back.
I know what your next question is: What is a rolling contract?
Essentially, it means that every year on a certain date, an extra year gets added to the deal. It means that Marshall always had seven years and somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 million left on his deal.
Always.
This is important because of the implications that come with being fired for cause. With that amount of money on the table, there’s a guarantee that it would turn into a legal battle. Marshall doesn’t want to let that money disappear into thin air. Wichita State doesn’t want to pay that money to a man that isn’t actually doing any work for them. We all get that. My understanding is that the university and their lawyers initially offered Marshall a $2 million settlement to go quietly into the night. Marshall’s lawyers were able to negotiate that up, largely due to the fact that the Wichita State athletic department was exposed.
This went on for at least five years. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that the way Marshall treated the subordinates in his program was not a secret on that campus or in that athletics building. If people that are only casual college basketball fans know about his reputation for being an asshole, then I’m sure that the people that live or die with Shocker basketball are very well aware of it, too.
And they’re also probably well aware of some of the rumors that have surrounded that program in the past. Let’s just say it would not shock me if the NCAA came sniffing around the program at some point.
That $7.75 million that Marshall got is hush money.
Don’t let anyone know how much we knew about what you were doing. Tell the NCAA that you don’t remember when they show up on your doorstep.
This allows everyone to get paid.
The lawyers rack up those billable hours. The risk assessors send their invoices. The abusive, and possibly rule-breaking, coach gets his buyout. The university that employed said abuser and possible rule-breaker continue to be able to operate in the NCAA’s good graces while cashing those tournament and TV deal checks. The people covering the sport get their paychecks. I charge you $7 a month to read my newsletter.
This is how the system is designed to work.
This is what the people that are in power want.
Amateur athletics, baby!!!
Catch the fever.
One last thing I wanted to touch on with Marshall: If he wants to, he will be able to coach again.
It may not be for three or four years, and it almost certainly will not be at a level commiserate with Wichita State, but if he wants to get back into the business, someone will give him the chance.
Billy Clyde Gillispie, the last man to get taken down by a Jeff Goodman investigation, is the head coach at Tarleton State. He’s as bad as Gregg Marshall when it comes to abusing players. Bobby Knight got fired at Indiana and was able to land on his feet at Texas Tech. Hell, even Dave Bliss, who oversaw the most heinous NCAA scandal in the history of the sport, was able to find jobs coaching in the G League as well as the high school and small college ranks.
So if Marshall wants to coach again, he’ll be able to coach again.
I just don’t know if he will want to.
I’ve gotten to know Marshall a little bit over the years. I don’t know if he’s one of the basketball lifers that has to be involved in the game to be able to survive. I also don’t know if his ego can handle coaching at a smaller program. Billy Clyde Gillispie swallowed his pride and took the job at Ranger College before moving to Tarleton State, whatever the hell that is, because he needed the money and the hoop.
Marshall has been making $3.5 million a year while living in Wichita. He has almost $8 million more coming his way over the next six years. He’s 57 years old.
He doesn’t need to keep coaching.
And if all he can get after this is some rinky-dink gig in the Southland or the Great West, then I wouldn’t be surprised if we never heard from him again.
I think the part that infuriates me the most is the seven bucks.
Jeff Goodman had a vendetta against this man, and got him fired. He made that Univerisity so much money over the years and made so many mediocre players into great players. You don’t like his style, don’t play for him. Tell him to tone it down and move on. Wusses.