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Post by baldyballer on Jun 17, 2008 0:08:25 GMT -5
I have known Coach Rushing for many years and can tell you he is a man of character. If there are still any doubters out there, I figured a character reference here would help. It would be wise for all posters to take his words as absolute truth. As always Chris, I wish you and your family the best and hopefully you won't get dragged into this any further!
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Post by vbparent on Jul 26, 2008 20:36:50 GMT -5
This is probably to little to late, but I need to say my piece.
Kudos to Coach Rushing, thank you for speaking what we all know to be the truth. At least the people who had to transition from you as the Head Coach, to what was suppose to have been a head coach. Believe me, she was a "head-games" coach. She was a total disaster to the existing team that welcomed her, and supported her, and actually had chosen her along with Phil Dane and Danelle Fabianich. Draper represented herself in one way to attain the job, and then flipped a switch, and became what we saw her to be. A narcissist, who really needs professional help.
This school, UT-Martin is as warm and welcoming as they come. When I came to Martin on a recruiting visit, we were made to feel as part of a big family. And to be quite honest it was one of the reasons we signed with UT Martin. Coach Rushing and his California english also had quite a bit to do with it, but Danelle, the Womens Adviser at the time was the one who really made the impression. With Martin, what you see is what you get, so if Draper came in there thinking that what was good for Rushing wasn't good enough for her, she made her own problems. She has delusions of grander.
She abused the privileges that came to her as a D1 head coach. She didn't have enough money in her Volleyball budget because she squandered it on her vanity. She squandered the surplus that was built up by Coach Rushing on things that more times than not did nothing for the team, or their needs.
She used the good people of Martin. She and her family were warmly accepted by the generous supporters of the volleyball team. She again, presented herself in one way to them, basically to get what she wanted from them, and then behind their backs would ridicule them, and speak unkindly of their generous hospitality.
We endured the hell this woman put the team through, with her relentless rantings, her abuse, mentally and physically, yah, I know, D1 athletes are expected to take whatever the head coach decides to dish out, but as a parent having had two great years with a decent human being and then being subjected to whatever Draper thought she was doing to these kids was just ridiculous. It would have been one thing if she was fair minded, but what she did and has done to some of these players was in some cases abusive. We know that coaches have their moments, but I would say the majority of coaches more often than not have the teams best interests in sight.
She never ever put the team first, everything was about her, what she looked like, how she was looked at, how she deserved better than what the team did. These girls would have given her 110% if she would have been fair. She would say one thing, and then totally do another. This team couldn't trust her.
She COULD have had a wining team. She refused to play the girls who were best suited to play. She had a libero that set a school record in her junior year, she had a tremendous south paw hitter, she had the league leading middle blocker. She had an amazing hitter on the other side. She had girls who could serve all day long.
Apparently it was Draper who didn't know what to do with all the outstanding talent that was on this team. She insisted on playing girls that she either brought with her from the D2 school she came from or girls she recruited, which is why she had the dismal results she did. She had outstanding players that she benched or removed from positions they had been in and were very successful in and replaced them with girls who didn't know what they were doing. She would never change the line up, even after error after error. She IS to blame for her losses. She had a team that could play D1 volleyball. It was Draper that didn't know how to coach them, so she beat them up physically, mentally and emotionally so much so that they couldn't function half the time. And that would then make it not her fault that they were loosing.
Draper is suing, what a joke. I should be suing her. She lied to all the girls, the parents, she got donations that she said were earmarked for a specific team trip, and at the end of the season, made the assistant coach tell the team the money was gone, and, oh well, to bad.
She punished them so long and hard, that when it came time to play a game, they were exhausted. She didn't know what she was doing with their training, other coaches noted that she just was having these girls do to much, especially in season. She didn't care. She punished the team by not feeding them, she took away basic needs, food, fuel, I mean how stupid can you be. If they don't eat, how do you expect them to play the game.
She is a mother. Wow, it makes me really wonder.
As a mother, having witnessed all that my daughter and her teammates have endured with this woman, I can think the only way she will ever know what she has done to them, is to experience her children having a coach just like her.
As for UT Martin, you will always have my deepest gratitude for caring for my daughter while she was at your school. I have the utmost respect for Phil Dane, Danelle Fabianich, and Chris Rushing. All of you have wanted nothing more than for these girls to have the best experience possible while at your school. As for the town of Martin, I want to thank all the teams supporters for coming to the games, to cheer them on, winning or loosing. You have always been dedicated to this team, and it meant a great deal to see it. When the teams parents couldn't be there, your special treats, and dinners, and just your caring hellos were there to give them the love they needed.
Anything I can do UTM, just let me know.
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Post by sbcvolley on Jul 27, 2008 20:27:16 GMT -5
wow! many of us have heard some of these things about Coach Draper, but wow. Chris Rushing is a great coach and a man of high character. Phil and Danielle are both caring individuals who went out of their way to help Chris and his teams. Draper is an egomaniac. Buying office furniture and MANY outfits with money from the budget was irresponsible. Along the way, she broke numerous NCAA rules, embarressed the University, and basically, herself. This lawsuit is comical - she threw her won husband under the bus in order to save face. The administration at UTM is guilty of one thing - they hired Draper against the advice of a number of people who had similar experiences with her. I know a few folks who have contacted UTM and offered to testify if it gets to that - people who have witnessed her antics and trangressions first hand. Should make for an interesting spectacle. In the long run, it is the team who will suffer the most here. Hope UTM is doing everything they can to change that. Not sure hiring the present coach is the answer either....
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Post by Phaedrus on Jul 27, 2008 20:44:13 GMT -5
Was she the best candidate available at the time or was she the best female candidate available at the time?
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Post by PierreAmi on Jul 27, 2008 21:09:03 GMT -5
This lawsuit is comical - she threw her won husband under the bus in order to save face. How did she win her husband? Are there any witnesses willing to testify they saw her throw him under the bus? Or did you make this part up?
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Post by Ajava on Jul 28, 2008 8:47:25 GMT -5
This lawsuit is comical - she threw her won husband under the bus in order to save face. How did she win her husband? Are there any witnesses willing to testify they saw her throw him under the bus? Or did you make this part up? Husband was an asst. with the basketball program and she was shedding some light on the basketball programs transgressions.
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Post by potus2012 on Jul 28, 2008 10:00:37 GMT -5
wow! many of us have heard some of these things about Coach Draper, but wow. Chris Rushing is a great coach and a man of high character. Phil and Danielle are both caring individuals who went out of their way to help Chris and his teams. Draper is an egomaniac. Buying office furniture and MANY outfits with money from the budget was irresponsible. Along the way, she broke numerous NCAA rules, embarressed the University, and basically, herself. This lawsuit is comical - she threw her won husband under the bus in order to save face. The administration at UTM is guilty of one thing - they hired Draper against the advice of a number of people who had similar experiences with her. I know a few folks who have contacted UTM and offered to testify if it gets to that - people who have witnessed her antics and trangressions first hand. Should make for an interesting spectacle. In the long run, it is the team who will suffer the most here. Hope UTM is doing everything they can to change that. Not sure hiring the present coach is the answer either.... The present coach is a good fit and will do a great job. Good luck Darrin with your season...
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