FanPost

The ballad of Quin Snyder

Just randomly spotted this link on ESPN.  Good times.

Indeed, in his seven seasons at Missouri, Snyder was a conduit for seemingly every good and bad characteristic associated with big-time collegiate athletics. When Mike Alden, the school's athletic director, selected the young Duke assistant over his two other leading candidates -- a couple of guys named John Calipari and Bill Self -- he raved that his new coach would bring energy and excitement to a sound-yet-uninspiring Division I program. He was right. Snyder led the Tigers to NCAA tournament appearances in his first two seasons and, in 2002, became the first coach to guide a No. 12 seed to the Elite Eight.

Yet even as Snyder soared, something wasn't quite kosher. He came across as increasingly smug and arrogant, a too-cool-for-school sort of guy whose head seemed to expand with each glowing headline. Part of it may well have been perception -- the Duke pedigree, the dual MBA and law degrees, the pretty-boy looks. But there were also the mounting scandals. In January 2003, Snyder's point guard, Ricky Clemons, was arrested on charges of assault and battery against a former girlfriend. Shortly thereafter, Clemons accused teammates of receiving payments from Missouri assistants. A year later, the NCAA placed Missouri on probation for a handful of violations. By this time, the Tigers had plummeted toward mediocrity, finishing with 16 wins in 2003-04 and 2004-05 and just 12 wins in Snyder's final season. "Did I run a clean program?" he asks rhetorically. "That's a good question. What was found was that there was a failure to monitor on my part. Well, did I have a player over for an occasional meal at my house? Yes, I did. Did I give Ricky Clemons a sweatshirt and a pair of flip-flops? Yes, I did. So if that's the definition of a clean program, then I guess we didn't run one."

When Snyder gets angry or frustrated, his forehead crinkles and his cheeks seem to puff. He also begins to babble waywardly. As he speaks now, his forehead is crinkled. His cheeks are puffed. He's beginning to babble waywardly. "This is purely hypothetical, but if one of my players misses his flight to get home for Christmas, and it'll cost $75 to catch the next plane and I see him at the airport, what do I do?" Snyder says. "You're in an impossible situation, ethically and morally. So did I make the wrong choices in some of those? Yes. Did I make the right choice in some of those? Yes."

By the time Snyder resigned midway through the 2005-06 season, his name -- and reputation -- was in the trough. A Missouri sports fan site posted a photograph of an apparently intoxicated Snyder at Mardi Gras.

Congrats also to Tigerboard's Nick, making his (I assume) ESPN.com debut.

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