Cross quits on players and staff

Shocked.

Surprised.

These were just a couple of the words that players and coaches from the Toledo men's basketball team uttered after their head coach Gene Cross stepped down on Thursday. Though some believed that Cross could've been fired after his team posted a 4-28 record this season, quitting was an unexpected turn of events.

Since his departure, many questions have been raised. Why would he leave behind more than $700,000 left from his contract? Where did this decision come from? What about the timing of this resignation coming just days after a controversial letter attacking his character was delivered to UT, as reported by The Blade?

These are all interesting questions, but one other remains. What about his players? Since his departure on Thursday, neither freshman guard Jake Barnett or senior forward Justin Anyijong had spoken with Cross. Both received calls on Thursday that their coach had left the team from UT's Director of Operations Brad Konerman.

Whatever Cross' reasons for leaving his position, there was no excuse to not contact his players. With 12 of the team's 14 players being underclassmen, these are players that have been recruited to play by Cross. They each made a commitment to play four years for him, a commitment that should be honored by Cross to the best of his abilities. As Barnett told me yesterday, "When you make a commitment for something, it's your word." To resign from his position was to quit on his team, and to leave without calling a meeting between his players or at the very least giving them a personal phone call before the announcement was made was an act of cowardice. With five days passing for him to still not have contacted his team's two most central players in Anyijong and Barnett is nothing short of a complete slap in the face.

Last night, Barnett spoke to me about his team being family and the importance of sticking together through adversity. This is a quality that every head coach should possess. Instead, Cross created the firestorm that has ensued and left the burden of it to all those which remain, including Athletic Director Mike O'Brien, who had to announce his resignation and meet with the team, Assistant Coach Bob Sundvold, who has to take over Cross' recruiting responsibilities as Interim Head Coach, and worst of all his players, who now must face the numerous unanswered questions that remain.

Sundvold has to be feeling most of the pressure. New coaches typically hire their own staff, and Sundvold faces performing Cross' duties while being aware that a new coaching hire could force him to start looking for a job at any moment.

"Whenever you have a coaching change, it's an upheaval for families and staffs," Sundvold said. "When I read in the paper he wanted to resign early enough so that he and his staff could find job opportunities … Hey, I've got [a job] I like."

Cross' players weren't the only athletes affected by his decision to resign. The UT women's basketball team's run to the MAC Championship game was overshadowed by the announcement of a coach's departure which could have waited until the end of their tournament. The timing of his departure was disrespectful to a squad that struggles to grab attention from the men's team on a yearly basis, and to resign at that point in time was thoughtless and inconsiderate.

Obviously a 4-28 season wears on a coach, especially one that includes a 19-game losing streak. Cross, however, has taken out this frustration by quitting on those coaches that worked countless hours for him and players that bled and sweat for him all last year. At the very least, he could've done them the courtesy of picking up a phone.

— Zach Davis is the Sports Editor and a senior majoring in communication. He has contributed to both Scout.com and UWire.com