The Barry Huckeby story is ending quietly, with the recent news that he's reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. Basically, he's pled guilty to a lesser charge, something along the lines of mishandling of public funds. The theft charge is being dropped, and his sentencing will be in February.
This isn't particularly surprising, given the facts of the investigation by the State. The findings of the investigation, as I detailed in my previous post (See December 4th), seem to indict the school administration for gross mismanagement as much as it did Huckeby.
So I suspect the school administration want the whole thing to just go away. I sent a letter to the School Board President, Ms. Pia O'Connor, expressing my concerns about the mismanagement and unforgivably poor controls by the Columbus North Athletic Department. She responded in general terms that she is now satisfied that proper controls have been implemented there. Lacking any specifics or independent confirmation, I must admit to being more than a little skeptical.
Either way, the story is coming to an end very quietly. Barry Huckeby will move on with a small blemish on his record, and although he could do a month in jail, I doubt that will happen. Perhaps he'll get a new chance to coach basketball at another high school; that might even work out fine, as long as the new school keeps him far away from any money-handling responsibility.
It remains regrettable that the people who created the environment that led to this mess will escape the scrutiny they deserve.
2 comments:
Hey Dumbass...Coach Huck has been coaching in Michigan at Saginaw Valley State University since August. Do you really think he stole anything? Why don't you contact him, and ask him. I am sure he will show you the receipt for the office supplies he purchased, after telling the AD he needed the supplies (a process he had seen the AD do several times.) When people lie to protect themselves, and are forced to lie by the Superintendent in order to protect him, Huck had no choice. Doesn't matter, he has moved on, coaching in college, and Columbus lost a GREAT coach. This makes the 3rd straight BOYS coach that the incompetent AD, Hedy George, has been able to weed out because they were making changes...I guess we should have seen this coming since she was the one who GOT rid of Coach Stearman!
Like I said earlier, if you want the truth, call Coach Huck (or email him). I have seen him on TV coaching against Purdue, and other teams in his league, and he seems to be doing fine. It is pretty obvious we overworked a fine man, and then threw him under the bus when mistakes were made.
It is time for the BCSC board to step up and hold all those responsible!
Bull Dog forever!
Bull Dog Forever, I'm not sure you've read my posts. Because you apparently missed the main points of them.
You're obviously a supporter of Mr. Huckeby, and that's fine. It is certainly possible he's a terrific basketball coach, but the issue was never about that.
Did he steal money from the golf outing? Most likely not. But he unquestionably did a poor job accounting for the proceeds.
Did he steal money from the football playoff game? We will never know. And that includes you, Bull Dog Forever. Only Barry Huckeby can know the answer to that, and no, I don't plan to call and ask him.
The point is, controls and recordkeeping were so incredibly mishandled that nobody will ever be able to fully discover the real truth.
You missed my major point, which is the opinion I reached after reading the State's report: If Barry Huckeby needed to be fired for mismanagement of athletic department funds, then the Athletic Director should have been fired as well for failing to enforce and adhere to well-defined control procedures for handling those funds.
I don't know Hedy George any more than I know Barry Huckeby, therefore I'm limited to my own research of the actual records and reports related to the incident. And that information clearly suggests both share the blame for this mess.
I'm happy to hear Huckeby's found a good coaching job elsewhere. Since you missed it, I actually agree with you that the AD deserves to lose her job over this incident.
And notice I didn't call you a single insulting name.
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