Scott faces fire on campus

The return of Joe Scott '87 to campus three seasons ago as the head coach of the men's basketball team was greeted with eager anticipation by everyone from alums to students to Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67.

After building a long-struggling Air Force program up to the NCAA Tournament, Scott's arrival triggered speculation as to just how far he could take the senior-laden squad that had won an Ivy League championship the year before under current Georgetown head coach John Thompson III '88.

But Scott's three-year tenure has been anything but expected. While the disappointment was great when that 2004-05 team stumbled to a 6-8 conference record — the first losing Ivy mark in program history — that feeling pales in comparison with the outrage brought about by this season's last place 2-12 finish.

"Frankly, the man's been nothing short of a disaster for Princeton basketball," WPRB basketball commentator Robert Glasgow '07 said.

Glasgow is a member of the facebook.com group "Fire Joe Scott," which boasted 87 members at the time of publishing. The group is the brainchild of Aaron Prince '07, who is also a second baseman on the baseball team. Prince declined to comment for this article due to his affiliation with the baseball team.

Tiger fans are spoiled after years of league dominance and can be hasty in calling for a coach's head — some even wanted Thompson fired during his tenure — but in compiling evidence to support Scott's removal, critics need to look no further than the coach's 38-45 record over three years during which the Tigers have set several ignominious records. Against Monmouth on Dec. 14, 2006 the Tigers scored just 21 points — tying the Division I record low for a game since the inception of the three-point shot. Just two weeks later, Princeton fell to Carnegie Mellon, the first defeat at the hands of a Division III program in school history. And this season, Princeton did the unthinkable, falling to last in the Ivy League for the first time ever.

Most of the discussion on the Facebook group's "wall" focuses on the Tigers' 2-12 conference record this year, with posters laying the blame entirely on Scott, who could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.

Will Scharf '08, who is a member of the Facebook group and says he's been an avid Princeton basketball fan from a young age, said the blame for the "abysmal" season could only fall in one place.

"You can only blame players or a system so much," Scharf said in an email. "At the end of the day, Princeton should not be going 2-12 in the Ivy League ... There's nothing wrong with the talent of our players."

"If Joe Scott has any decency and respect for Princeton basketball, he'll resign," Scharf added. "If Princeton has any sense, Scott will be fired."

The players on Scott's team, however, strongly disagree with the analysis put forth by those calling for their coach's head. While Princeton's offense did struggle to score this season, the players pointed out that the bulk of games were low-scoring on both sides, not just for the Tigers.

"Coaches don't win games, they put you in position to win games; players have to win games," junior forward Kyle Koncz said. "We were on the court, and we didn't win the games. So if you're going to blame coach, you have to blame us just as much, if not more, because we were in every game."

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Koncz's feelings are echoed by several other members of the team, including senior co-captain Justin Conway.

"At the end of the line, the players on the court during the game must make the plays necessary to win," Conway said in an email. "If players are to be celebrated in wins and success, then we also must be held responsible for losses and disappointments."

Scott's critics claim that his coaching style is intimidating and upsetting to players, causing the poor play this season. Scott has experienced an unusually high rate of player turnover, with eight recruited players leaving the team over a three-year span, a combination of voluntary and forced removals from the team. Many speculate that personality conflicts with Scott were at the root of their defections.

"He's a very, very angry man," Glasgow said. "The man's just jumping up and down, he's red in the face, he's yelling at the people on the court constantly. And there's passion. I get passion, I'm a passionate sports fan. But there comes a point where it might be demoralizing to the players."

Though Scott may appear intimidating, his players have learned to ignore those who discount his ability as a coach.

"Coach Scott's always been criticized," junior forward Kevin Stuerer said. "You can't really listen to that, especially as a player because we know that he cares. He's always put us in position to win and we understand that."

But there are players who have had difficulty transitioning to Scott's style. Judson Wallace '05 struggled through a disappointing senior season for Scott after playing three years under Thompson '88. After reaching the NCAA Tournament in Wallace's junior year, the Tigers stumbled to a 6-8 mark in Scott's debut season despite returning four senior starters who were expected to run away with another league title.

Wallace said that though he and Scott had some trouble over the course of his senior season, he believed that the coach's commitment to and love for Princeton basketball were genuine.

"As difficult as it is for me to say this based on the way coach Scott treated me," Wallace added, "I still think he deserves to have his recruiting class be in a leadership role as juniors and seniors."

"I think Coach Scott's system ... takes more than two years, three years to develop," Wallace said. "And I think he only had two good classes worth of guys. His first recruiting class hasn't become seniors."

Current students aren't the only ones disappointed by the season. Many alumni feel quite strongly about Scott and his performance as a coach. Steve Silverman '83, a longtime Princeton basketball fan, has been disappointed and dismayed by the performance of the team over the past few seasons.

Silverman questioned Scott's courtside decisions, citing his winning percentage of 46 over three years as the lowest of any Princeton basketball coach in the last 40 years, but said that he should nevertheless be retained as coach for next season.

"There probably isn't anybody better than Joe Scott to bring onboard right away, so I think you've got to give him at least one or two more years," Silverman said. "But I think that if he doesn't turn things around and start winning, maybe within the next two years then the conversation can seriously turn to not renewing his contract."

Other fans believe that anyone would be better than Scott. On the Facebook group, Prince suggested Justin Conway, while Glasgow suggests holding a lottery among members of the Jadwin Jungle.

Freshman point guard Marcus Schroeder, who barely left the court in his time as a starter this season, supports his coach and believes firing Scott would be premature. Schroeder expects the team will start winning next season or the year after that.

If Schroeder's predictions are correct, Scott's tenure at Princeton would closely mimic his time at Air Force — where he went 29-56 in his first three years but earned Air Force its first tournament berth in 42 years the next season.

"I guess you've got to blame him because he's the head coach, but players have to take blame, we're not making open shots, we're not making free throws, we're not rebounding," Schroeder said. "The coach always get's the blame, but to be honest Coach Scott does a great job with us. He's got his guys in and we're all committed to his system, and I think in the next couple of years here things are going get rolling and we're going to start winning."