UConn Pays Former Coach Ollie $11.1 Million To Satisfy Ruling

STORRS, CT — The University of Connecticut Monday paid former men's basketball coach Kevin Ollie the $11.1 million an arbiter said he was owed in his employment dispute with the Huskies.

"It is our understanding the check was cut yesterday and overnighted to Mr. Ollie's attorneys," UConn officials said. "We expect they will receive it sometime (Tuesday) if it has not already arrived."

Ollie's won the arbitration case on Jan. 20 and his representatives said the ruling was justified. Ollie was fired in the spring of 2018 in the wake of UConn reporting several NCAA violations in the storied men's basketball program, which Ollie was a part of as both a player and the hand-picked successor to Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun. The Huskies were 127-79 in Ollie's six seasons at the helm.

UConn officials took umbrage with the decision, saying the ruling suggests that coaches can abide by their own standards and not those of the NCAA. One of the conclusions was that UConn should have waited until an NCAA ruling was issued — that would have been 16 months later — before firing Ollie. The violations led to UConn being placed on two years' worth of NCAA probation. The violations took place between 2013 and 2028 and Ollie was also reprimanded.

The arbitrator in this case agreed that UConn had just cause to terminate Ollie for NCAA rules violations, noting that “the ultimate NCAA finding represented serious noncompliance with NCAA rules and regulations.” However, the arbitrator determined that UConn should have waited for the NCAA’s own process to conclude before terminating Ollie.

UConn released a lengthy statement Tuesday after acknowledging it has transferred the money to Ollie.

"The university has complied with the recent arbitration ruling that ordered UConn to pay former head men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie approximately $11.1 million," it said. "This is the amount he would have been paid under the remainder of his contract had he remained employed through May 31, 2021, or terminated without cause."

UConn terminated Ollie on March 10, 2018.

UConn's statement continued, "The arbitrator in this case agreed that UConn had just cause to terminate Ollie for NCAA rules violations, noting that 'the ultimate NCAA finding represented serious noncompliance with NCAA rules and regulations.' However, the arbitrator determined that UConn should have waited for the NCAA’s own process to conclude before terminating Ollie.

"The university strongly disagrees with this decision. The university’s primary responsibility with respect to athletic compliance is to protect the integrity of its programs. In light of that, UConn could not have waited 16 months to act on the information and evidence it already had at the time the decision was made to end Ollie’s employment. In fact, the NCAA expects its member institutions to take appropriate action when the institution determines there has been a rules violation. Failure to do so could have exposed the university to additional institutional sanctions.

"The university has serious concerns about how this ruling impacts UConn's proactive efforts to run a program with integrity and in full NCAA compliance. This is precisely why all of our coaches have employment contracts detailing their compliance obligations. The arbitrator’s reliance on the collective bargaining agreement in this case, rather than the contract, undercuts that effort.

"However, it is unquestionably in the best interest of UConn and its men’s basketball program to move on, and UConn plans no further legal action in this case. UConn considers the matter closed.

"While UConn is proud of its long history of success in basketball, what is always most important to the university, its coaches, student-athletes, and fans is the present and the future. UConn is thrilled to be back in the Big East and to have its men’s basketball program ranked in the top 20. The university looks forward to the rest of this basketball season and to what the future holds for this strong team and legendary program."

Ollie's representatives, the law firm Statement from Madsen, Prestley & Parenteau, releases=d a statement Tuesday evening:

“The University of Connecticut is putting the best spin on a case where the University’s highest officials were found to have engaged in what can only be described as illegal and unethical conduct by making false claims, without evidence, that Kevin Ollie was not a truthful person. As revealed by even a cursory reading of the decision, the NCAA
would never have found against Kevin Ollie if the University of Connecticut did not act in the dishonest ways described by the arbitrator in the decision.

"The truth is that the NCAA found Kevin Ollie liable 16 months later only because the University of Connecticut made a concerted effort to bring about this result because they wanted to deprive Kevin Ollie of his contractual payment under the employment agreement."