Opinion ID: 1302107
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Iona College Men's Basketball Team

Text: In 1995, Craig Holcomb was hired as an assistant coach of the Iona Gaels men's basketball team. Holcomb reported both to the Head Coach, Tim Welsh, and to the college's Director of Athletics, a role filled at that time by Richard Petriccione. In 1998, Welsh left and was replaced as Head Coach by Jeff Ruland, an alumnus of Iona, who was twice an NBA All Star, and who is white. When Ruland was appointed, Holcomb was made Associate Head Coach. This new title denoted his position as the top assistant to Ruland, and was accompanied by a pay raise, but seemed to make no difference to Holcomb's day-to-day responsibilities as an assistant coach. When Ruland came on board, the Iona Gaels were enjoying considerable on-court success, and their good form continued for three seasons thereafter. The team won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament in 1998, 2000, and 2001, thereby earning a spot in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's Division I Championship Tournament in each of those years. In June 2000, Holcomb married Pamela Gauthier, an African-American woman. In 2001, Ruland began a relationship with Iris Hansen, who was also an African-American woman and friend of Gauthier. Hansen and Gauthier often went to games and post-game functions together. In June 2001, Ruland signed a new eight-year contract as Head Coach. This contract, worth over $300,000 a year, made Ruland the highest paid employee at Iona. From 1998 to 2004, Ruland supervised the same three assistant coaches: Holcomb worked alongside Tony Chiles, who is African-American, and Rob O'Driscoll, the most junior of the three, who is white, and who was not in an interracial relationship. This case arises from the college's 2004 decision to fire Holcomb and Chiles, while deciding to retain O'Driscoll and Ruland.