Mark Amatucci has had it with the administration at Anne Arundel Community College and says he's "tired of sitting back and not saying anything about what's going on."
The third-year Pioneers head basketball coach and assistant athletic director -- who also serves as an academic monitor for student-athletes -- is disgusted with the overallsituation at the Arnold campus.
It bothers him that the negative sniping at him and Athletic Director Buddy Beardmore continues, easily overshadowing the overall excellent jobs they have done.
In my opinion, too much attention has been paid to their problems and not enough to all the good they have done in building an overall top-notch program.
"I've never had to put up with anything like this," said Amatucci.
His dismay stems from the never-ending battle with members of the administration and thephysical education department. And if the right opportunity comes along, he probably is gone.
A lot of state Division I schools are down in the win column, and it would not be surprising to see a few coaching changes.
Amatucci, who was head coach at Loyola College in Baltimore before coming to Anne Arundel, feels as if it's he and Beardmore against the rest of the school.
"I've never seen anything like this continuing circus around here, and I'm getting very sensitive about my integrity and professionalism constantly being questioned," said Amatucci, after learning that AACC president Thomas Florestano told a reporter that "six basketball players have been dismissed for being academically ineligible."
As a matter of fact, only three were removed from the team for academic ineligibility last Thursday whenfall semester grades were released. The three players, two of whom were starters, did not meet the National JuCo Athletic Association requirements of at least a 1.75 grade-point average and a passing grade in 12 credit hours worth of courses.
Just before the season started, Amatucci cut three players who weren't meeting academic and athletic standards, and apparently that is where Florestano came up with the number six.
That infuriated Amatucci on Monday. In his office after a practice, the Pioneers' coach expressed his disappointment in the relentless stream of negative rumors that trail him and Beardmore.
"There's another example of unsubstantiated rumors being told to you guys (the media)," said Amatucci. "I'm very annoyed with the overall situation here. People around here wonder why the media has a field day with our school. There's another example why."
Florestano said, "I think Mark is feeling very defensive, but will just have to learn to live with it because he's a high-profile guy.
"The basketball program will constantly be watched just like the one at the University of Maryland. Our athletic department is always going to be a source of tension. It's always on the front burner."
Florestano saidthe athletic program at Anne Arundel will continue to be closely watched so as to avoid any more problems.
The new dean of students, Augustine Pounds, who succeeded the late Anthony Pappas, has made a report on the state of the intercollegiate sports program mandatory every three months.
As for Amatucci feeling as if his integrity is being questioned, Florestano said, "That's in the eyes of the beholder.His integrity and professionalism is being questioned no less than that of anyone else. The basketball team is on probation, you know."
Amatucci has led the hoop team to two straight 20-win seasons, including a berth in a regional tournament last year. An honest mistake on his part last year resulted in a player being declared academicallyineligible, the forfeiture of a couple of games and a subsequent oneyear's probation from the NJCAA.
Anne Arundel is off to a 9-3 start this season, but because of the probation is banned from postseason play.
Couple that with the women's soccer team also being placedon one-year probation for playing two ineligible players in 1989 and1990 by Coach Mike Miles, who later resigned, and the Pioneers' athletic department had two black eyes to start this year.
Those violations were the result of a seven-month investigation that embarrassedthe school and athletic department. The finger was pointed at Amatucci and Beardmore, and they became the scapegoats despite their full cooperation with the NJCAA.
There is no question that the two high-profile men have more than their share of haters at Anne Arundel. In times of crisis, the haters crawl out of the woodwork and throw fuel on the fire -- if they didn't help start it.
It was discovered during an internal investigation that a faculty member had initiated theinvestigation into Amatucci's hoops program by sending transcripts without the students' permission to the NJCAA.
That was just another example of someone from the old athletic department regime attempting to smear Beardmore and Amatucci.
"We came in as high-profile personalities, and there were a lot of people around here who didn't want us around, and that's why the circus has continued," said Amatucci.
"We represented change they didn't want."
When Beardmore, theformer highly successful University of Maryland lacrosse coach, tookover as athletic director about five years ago, his department separated from phys ed. Thus, the two sides were established, and the war has been on ever since.
Bringing in Amatucci as hoops coach did not endear Beardmore to his detractors. The envious saw Amatucci as another "big shot."
What the detractors hate to admit is that the previous success and organizational abilities of the two has followed them to AACC.
Consider that since Beardmore took over, the athletic department has started a well-received Hall of Fame and brought back the bull roast fund-raiser in addition to the spring and fall awards ceremonies.
Beardmore also ordered maintenance of the football field that is in its best shape ever and being used by county high schools.
"Buddy has taken some heat because the schools now have to paya fee to use the football field, but that didn't come from him, the fees came from administration," Amatucci said.
Under Beardmore, the school has 12 teams (Essex is the only other JuCo in the region with as many teams) and will add either bowling or women's tennis next year. A host of outstanding coaches have been added to the staff, including Amatucci. Tom Smith now guides the women's basketball team and Jim Shuck the women's soccer team. Smith and Shuck were successful high school coaches who have carried that success into junior college.
Also, hired by Beardmore were women's lacrosse coach Lacy Frazier and men's tennis coach Joe Hayes. In each case, the programs have been stabilized and gained respect in the community.
In hiring Amatucci, Beardmore hired a guy who is the only man to have four consecutive winning seasons in schedules of 15 games or more at the Maryland Division I level other than the University of Maryland. Amatucci did that at academically oriented Loyola College where he graduated all hisplayers.
When Tom O'Connor, the man who hired Amatucci away from Calvert Hall, left Loyola to become an athletic director on the West Coast, his successor, Tom Brennan, did not see eye to eye with Amatucci, who soon resigned.
After being out of work for a year, Amatucci took the job at Anne Arundel three years ago and now has more than 350 career wins at Calvert Hall, Loyola and AACC.
More importantly, his emphasis on academics and the ability to communicate that to his players has resulted in all six players in the last two years who were eligible to graduate from the community college going on to attend and play at four-year universities.
"We talk all the time about establishing tradition here at Anne Arundel and going on to a four-year school," said Amatucci, who runs a mandatory study hall for his players and encourages the use of workshops for extra help.
His players are required to wear coats and ties on game days and opposing teams have learned that they better be ready when they play Anne Arundel. They not only look good, but they play good.
"Why is it that when something happens around here, that happens at most all other community colleges such as academic problems, that such a big deal is madeof it?" asked Beardmore.
The reason is very simple. As long as the Beardmore-Amatucci detractors are there and can get the administration to play the game with them, a big deal will be made only of the negative.
Unfortunately for Beardmore and Amatucci, it will remain that way as long as they are there, and how much longer they stay remains to be seen.