HARTFORD, Conn. — Through four bitter years of legal warfare it became hard to imagine anyone emerging a winner from all that mudslinging. But arbitrator Mark Irvings’ decision Thursday gave more than 11 million reasons to raise Kevin Ollie’s arm in triumph.
If this is solely about money, it was K.O. by TKO; he got every nickel he was seeking, $11.1 million. If it’s about principle, Ollie won by upholding the idea that contracts, like facts, are stubborn things, and for this you can bet there are sighs of relief among his former coaching colleagues, at UConn and beyond, who wondered if the same strategy could one day be applied to them.
If it’s about “clearing his name,” which was Ollie’s stated mission, it is not so clear cut. There is still a show-cause order from the NCAA, which found that Ollie provided “false and misleading information” to its investigators, and batch of minor infractions that may not indicate a will to cheat, but rather a lack of attention to detail in running his program.
