Shocker in Raleigh! Charita Stubbs released (noon update with records)

Non-Revenue39

Link to GoPack

Two questions remain:

(1) First, will Stubbs repeat her previous behavior of playing the race card when things don’t go her way?

(2) Second, will Lee Fowler be allowed to hire Stubbs’ replacement? You see, Fowler has ALREADY fired & hired a volleyball coach at NC State — and, he CHOSE CHARITA STUBBS! How/why in the world would you let the man that was responsible for hiring the coach that compiled perhaps the worst results/performance in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference in ANY sport make ANOTHER hire in that sport? Just asking.

The press release is obscenely laughable when the SPORTS department doesn’t even share the RECORD of a program or coach upon the the coach’s release. I queue our resident statistical gurus to share with us the records and statistics that GoPack.com doesn’t want to share with you.

RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State Director of Athletics Lee Fowler announced today that head volleyball coach Charita J. Stubbs will not be retained.

Stubbs’ tenure ends after four losing seasons. The Wolfpack finished the 2009 campaign by topping North Carolina in five sets this past Wednesday.

“We certainly appreciate all that Coach Stubbs and her staff have done for the Wolfpack program during their time at NC State,” said Fowler. “Her dedication and commitment over the past four seasons has been exemplary.

“In the best interest of the program, however, we feel like this is the time to move in a different direction.”

Under Stubbs the volleyball program consistently excelled in the classroom, placing four student-athletes on the All-ACC Academic Volleyball Team, 17 on the ACC Honor Roll and 23 on the Dean’s list.

“I appreciate the experience and opportunity that I was given at NC State, and I am thankful for the support that was provided,” said Stubbs. “NC State is an up-and-coming program and I think we have laid a strong foundation.

“I think that the administration is doing a good job of moving the program in the right direction by doing what is best for the program. I wish NC State nothing but the best and I am excited about what the future holds for everyone involved. I will always follow this program.”

NC State will immediately begin a national search to replace Stubbs.

You can click here for our “Tag” of Charita Stubbs which includes a link to this all-time SFN classic that included the following quote from the Technician:

Coaches: if you are looking for success, please follow volleyball coach Charita Stubbs’ three step plan for establishing a winning program and building fan support. [SFN note: Stubbs is a Fowler hire]

1. Demonstrate unflinching excellence on the court. In three years with the Wolfpack, Stubbs has accumulated a 3-61 record in the ACC and a 14-84 record overall.

2. Respond to criticism in a professional, mature manner. On Oct. 14, Technician ran an editorial cartoon complimenting Stubbs’ first ACC wins in a backhanded manner. Stubbs, a black woman, felt the cartoon was directed at her race rather than her performance as a coach.

Stubbs responded to the Oct. 14 piece by refusing to comment to Technician reporters, demanding a front page apology and talking to seemingly everyone about the cartoon except the Technician staff. Repeated invitations to Stubbs to come to our office and discuss the issue in an open forum were left unanswered, and what could have been a learning experience for everyone involved developed into a bitter standoff.

Personally, I don’t think there was anything racist about the cartoon, but I will invite anyone interested to make up their own mind. Search “stubbs cartoon” on Technician’s Web site and see for yourself.

3. Create strong student and fan support by alienating the student newspaper. Stubbs understands that the best way to put out the word about her blossoming volleyball program is to refuse to talk to the only media outlet that will ever regularly cover N.C. State volleyball. She has not allowed any interviews with Technician reporters since the cartoon ran Oct. 14 (She has also not won any matches since that date.)

As sports editor, I have loved working with the wonderful people in the Athletics Department. From coaches to media relations, people have always behaved professionally, even if the results on the field weren’t ideal. But Stubbs has shown there are exceptions to the rule. Technician will continue to send reporters to objectively cover the volleyball program. It is up to Stubbs to do the mature thing and repair the bridge that has been burned between our organizations.

WV Wolf update:
Charita Stubbs’ overall record in her 4 years was 22-111 (.165) and 4-80 (.048) in the ACC with finishes of 12th, 12th, 10th and 12th.

Mary Byrne was the previous coach from 2001-2005 and had an overall record of 33-122 (.213) and 2-84 (.023) in the ACC.

Kim Hall was the coach from 1994-2000 and had an overall record of 101-138 (.423) and an ACC record of 21-87 (.194).

In the 10 years under Lee Fowler (Hall 1 year, Byrne 5 years, Stubbs 4 years) the volleyball program’s overall record is 64-255 (.201) with an ACC record of 7-179 (.038) and 9 last place finishes.

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

Non-Revenue

39 Responses to Shocker in Raleigh! Charita Stubbs released (noon update with records)

  1. Pack Mentality 12/02/2009 at 1:23 PM #

    I’ll be the 1st to admit that I don’t care at all about volleyball. But if you have a team, shouldn’t you have the self respect not to let it get to this point? This is to the point that we should either turn it around very quickly with a new coach or totally scrap women’s volleyball as a Wolfpack sport.

  2. bradleyb123 12/02/2009 at 3:15 PM #

    Now if we can just figure out a way to fire Mike Archer.

  3. thekind 12/02/2009 at 3:55 PM #

    If Lee Fowl-up is rehiring the position, I see nothing to be happy about. He”ll screw it up. I am beginning to think that old Wendell himself should start feeling the heat. Let’s face it, he calls the shots anyway.

  4. bradleyb123 12/02/2009 at 4:35 PM #

    I still don’t understand why Fowler is our AD. What will it take to get HIM fired?

  5. hball57 12/02/2009 at 4:39 PM #

    Regarding the cartoon, while I think it may be a little over sensitive, I understand what Coach Stubbs was refering to when she took offense to the drawing. As an African-American, there are certain features when over emphasized in a cartoon can be somewhat offensive. These stereotypes are consistant over tie and while many won’t understand my sensitivity I hope you can respect my feelings on this.

    I will be interested to see if our next hire is a Kelly Harper type for the Volleyball team.

  6. Gene 12/02/2009 at 9:14 PM #

    I can see the cartoon as offensive because (1) she was drawn in an unflattering big-nosed-big-lipped stereotypical negro depiction and (2) the reference to “that’s what my other hand is for” in reference to counting the wins portrays her as being stupid. Put the picture and the text together and I can see reason to take offense to it.

    As far as the coaching hire goes, I don’t know. How involved was Lee in hiring Coach Harper and / or the new women’s soccer coach? It’s too early to evaluate those hires here, but they seem to be young coaches, with some success at smaller schools that didn’t have winning traditions before they took over and are looking to take a step up here.

    We’ll probably get someone like that for volleyball.

  7. Pack Mentality 12/02/2009 at 9:56 PM #

    I saw the cartoon and while I did not find it offensive (as a white male), I do understand how it could be viewed as racist by some. I also do believe that the creator of the cartoon most likely did not have any racist intent. I therefore think that this could have been handled better by both Stubbs and The Technician. She could have agreed to talk with them about the matter, and they could have reacted in not such a defensive manner – both of which led to the stalemate.

    Hopefully the next coach builds a competitive program.

  8. Dr. BadgerPack 12/02/2009 at 10:07 PM #

    Classof89- The Wingate coach would certainly be a good one.

    My 😉 probably didn’t convey my sarcasm though; as Lee bungled the first one by, of course, doing exactly as I proposed!

    Ken Ko might be a reasonable choice, though I doubt he’d leave UF. Recruiting is his specialty, and the coaching credentials aren’t bad. Aside from that, maybe just grab a hottie from the Olympic team? (Sorry… couldn’t resist…)

  9. Wulfpack 12/02/2009 at 10:41 PM #

    Scrapping programs will not do us any favors at the conference office, or for the greater image of the school. Get somebody in here that knows what they are doing, build the program to respectability, and see what happens from there.

  10. SuperStuff 12/03/2009 at 9:38 AM #

    I think my 7 year old draws better than that. LOL… I just think it was a lack of skill on the cartoonists part and both parties could of handled it better.

  11. harrisek 12/03/2009 at 4:46 PM #

    Whether Fowler hires that next coach is not an issue. His last hire was bad, he gets a Mulligan, most AD’s don’t. The cousin of a friend played for Stubbs and transferred because, as she said, “the coach is clueless”. I see this as a small move in the right direction.

    Since it may be important to the point for some, I’m African-American. Frankly, browsing to the cartoon I was expecting the usual ignorant racist crap you see in the media these days. I was surprised, I did not see the cartoon as racist. Knowing her win-loss record, it’s obvious to me that it’s about the team’s lack of wins. Of course, one has to imagine that she would not be thinking along those lines since every coach thinks they ‘re doing a good job, so win-loss records probably was never on her mind when she saw the cartoon.

    As I said, a small step in the right direction, albeit a couple years too late.

  12. Classof89 12/03/2009 at 5:22 PM #

    Anyone think that when Nora Lynn Finch was still around, the pressure was to hire female coaches for female teams? The Wingate dude is, after all, a dude, and NC State nearly had a lawsuit last time they had a man coaching a womens team (Larry Gross). That history, combined with Finch’s presence, might have been enough to induce them to pass over more qualified male candidates at the time they hired Stubbs…

  13. bradleyb123 12/03/2009 at 6:21 PM #

    ^^^ “and (2) the reference to “that’s what my other hand is for” in reference to counting the wins portrays her as being stupid.”

    I actually took that to mean she was SO USED to counting her ACC wins on one hand, that it FINALLY required two hands to keep the count. Her other hand has been idle for how many years?

    I think if someone reads into that part that it was implying she was stupid, that’s on you. I didn’t take it that way AT ALL. I thought that part was actually clever and witty, since her ACC win total was a mere 6 wins.

    As for the negro caricature, I won’t argue with that.

  14. Charita 12/11/2009 at 3:19 AM #

    Just so you all know there was never a settlement, there was never a need. I think it is funny that someone created that story. The NC State volleyball team did not win enough – point blank. When ever a team fails to excel – I too agree it is the fault of the coach. I accept that responsibility. I wish the entire team the best.

1 2

Leave a Reply