I wasn’t going to write much about this crazy week, but since the privacy-requesting Matt Doherty decided to field a few Jay Bilas softballs today on ESPN, something has to be said; either Matt Doherty is completely insane or he is just plain stupid.One of Bilas’ “hard driving” questions led Doherty to say that he was blind-sided by the administration’s move to push him out. He claims that he didn’t know anything until Saturday (March 29). He said,“Why so fast, so abrupt?”

Really? Then why did I hear on March 21 that this was all coming down? Why was it common knowledge in the NCSU Wolfpack Club section of the ACC Tournament on March 14th? Why had I heard since early February that this was a possibility? Doherty told a blatant lie tonight, and if you believe him, you better close your eyes before you pull your head out, because it is pretty bright out here.

Doherty also went so far as to say that nobody said “let’s try to fix this” or force a meeting to work things out. If this doesn’t insult you, you haven’t been paying attention.

Let’s go back 24 months. Doherty was in the middle his well-publicized strife with Joseph Forte. Forte unfortunately declared for the NBA draft and all of the fans characterized him as a bad apple. Twelve months ago Jason Capel, Adam Boone, Jawad Williams, and Jackie Manuel (1 graduating team captain, a disgruntled transfer, and two of Doherty’s freshmen) all said publicly that Doherty’s methods had to change. Doherty saw counselors and went through anger management rehabilitation.

On December 12, when the Heels were 5-2, I first caught word of players’ unhappiness this season. My friend said,”Things are BAD. It’s worse than ever, and these freshmen are all upset.” Think about this; just 7 games into the season several players had been in Phil Ford’s office crying about how unhappy they were!

Given all of that, can you really believe that Doherty wasn’t given a chance to “fix this?” Compound all of this with Julius Peppers’ and Ronald Curry’s (McDonald’s AA MVP) statements that Doherty was a factor in their declination to play basketball another year. Oh yeah, and there were the countless stories out of Notre Dame regarding the elation that players had to see their coach go.

If this was all so unfair,

• Why haven’t ANY current or former players protested Baddour’s move?
• Why would so many players have considered transferring over three straight seasons? (Even Damien Grant considered transferring at one point this season.)
• Why were so many players throughout the last 4 years rolling their eyes about Matt Doherty? If it were about “inmates running the asylum” or “spoiled brats”, wouldn’t SOMEBODY within 2 miles of the Dean Dome have come out in support of Doherty on this issue?

For sure, the details of the transgressions are sketchy. Word on the street is that Doherty told players they were “stupid”, that “they will never be good enough to play at this level”, and that he didn’t know why he recruited them. Word also is that he has difficulties that keep him from handling stressful situations like the rest of us. Like I said, this is heresy, but it merits a test.

On April 14, the Federal HIPAA laws come into effect. One of the important pieces to the legislation mandates (by federal law) that owners of private medical information cannot release that information without written consent from the patient. What this will mean is that players’ injury statuses can’t be released unless consent is obtained. Current laws are inconsistent but still hold institutions liable for the privacy of patient information. Given this; if the rumors were accurate, wouldn’t Dick Baddour have handled this situation exactly like he did? If they aren’t accurate, don’t you think that Doherty’s lawyers would have a good case to sue for the original contracted buyout agreement?

Dick Baddour deserves commendation, not the criticism offered by those like Michael Jordan, Lute Olsen, Jay Bilas, and ESPN’s reporters, and scores of newspaper columnists; all who are miles away from the Dean Dome and the truth. Baddour is sitting on information that forced Doherty to accept a massive settlement cut, but Doherty has decided to public and whine about not getting enough chances.

Baddour’s preemptive strike prevented mass transfers that would have taken DECADES for the program to overcome. This was not a “window of opportunity.” Baddour gave ample time for Doherty to learn how to act like a decent human being. He has done an outstanding job of showing Doherty the door without tearing him down to the media. Doherty, unfortunately, is striking out at “the process”, and making himself look totally unqualified to handle stressful situations with class and judgement.