It’s no secret the impact that Dusty Womble has on the happenings of Texas Tech Athletics. Womble went onto Double T 97.3 this morning to give some insight on behind the scenes of Tech basketball in the recent and he touched on the coaching search taking place. Here are the takeaways from the interview:
On the alleged misunderstanding that took place between Womble and Adams:
“Mark ran an entirely different program than Chris (Beard) did. So I was very close to all the teams that Chris had here. Not in a meddlesome way, but I was just around the team a lot. I traveled with the team a lot, I sat in on film, I sat in on coaches’ meetings, I knew a lot of those players, I follow a lot of those players. I still have personal relationships with Jarrett (Culver), Matt Mooney, Brandone Francis, Tariq (Owens), Norense (Odiase), Justin (Gray), Zach Smith, so you know, a lot of those kids I knew and they knew me. Mark ran a very more closed shop, he was really concerned about loyalty and he wanted a real tight operation. I wasn’t near as involved or around the last two teams. I don’t think I traveled with the team to any game over the last two years.”
On the players’ meetings that occurred following the suspension of Adams:
“I was not involved in those players’ meetings, that was Kirby, really. People want to call it an investigation, it wasn’t an investigation it was really an inquiry. He wanted to know what the inner workings of that program were like… I think really the result of that led more to the end result that we ended up with, than anything Mark did or didn’t do over the last two years. I think your assessment that that program was a little dysfunctional is accurate.”
On strained relationships with Barret Peery & former players:
“Barret was the first guy Mark reached out to, they had a relationship that went way back… I got to know him while he was here last year. I think I’ve said this publicly, but I think it’s a travesty that he didn’t stay on the staff after the first year… . They’ve both been kind of mum on exactly what happened. There were certainly signs of dysfunction last year, they struggled with relationships with TJ Shannon and Kevin McCullar… . You need to ask Kevin why he left, I don’t know. I think that the staff was okay with Kevin leaving, and I think that was a mistake. Kevin’s a kid you could have, TJ is certainly a kid you could have kept here, Clarence (Nadolny) no question. Kevin might have left even if you really wanted to keep him, we were in a much better position to retain him than somebody just taking him.”
Womble on the coaching search and committee:
“I can tell you that as far as the search committee, I’m very confident that the coach we select to lead the program will be somebody that everybody is very happy with. The interest that we have from sitting coaches, assistants, agents… it really is probably one of the best 10 or 12 jobs in the country. If you look at our facilities, our support from our fans, our commitment from the athletic department, it is a job that will stack up against any other job in the country.”
On the alleged misunderstanding that took place between Womble and Adams:
“Mark ran an entirely different program than Chris (Beard) did. So I was very close to all the teams that Chris had here. Not in a meddlesome way, but I was just around the team a lot. I traveled with the team a lot, I sat in on film, I sat in on coaches’ meetings, I knew a lot of those players, I follow a lot of those players. I still have personal relationships with Jarrett (Culver), Matt Mooney, Brandone Francis, Tariq (Owens), Norense (Odiase), Justin (Gray), Zach Smith, so you know, a lot of those kids I knew and they knew me. Mark ran a very more closed shop, he was really concerned about loyalty and he wanted a real tight operation. I wasn’t near as involved or around the last two teams. I don’t think I traveled with the team to any game over the last two years.”
On the players’ meetings that occurred following the suspension of Adams:
“I was not involved in those players’ meetings, that was Kirby, really. People want to call it an investigation, it wasn’t an investigation it was really an inquiry. He wanted to know what the inner workings of that program were like… I think really the result of that led more to the end result that we ended up with, than anything Mark did or didn’t do over the last two years. I think your assessment that that program was a little dysfunctional is accurate.”
On strained relationships with Barret Peery & former players:
“Barret was the first guy Mark reached out to, they had a relationship that went way back… I got to know him while he was here last year. I think I’ve said this publicly, but I think it’s a travesty that he didn’t stay on the staff after the first year… . They’ve both been kind of mum on exactly what happened. There were certainly signs of dysfunction last year, they struggled with relationships with TJ Shannon and Kevin McCullar… . You need to ask Kevin why he left, I don’t know. I think that the staff was okay with Kevin leaving, and I think that was a mistake. Kevin’s a kid you could have, TJ is certainly a kid you could have kept here, Clarence (Nadolny) no question. Kevin might have left even if you really wanted to keep him, we were in a much better position to retain him than somebody just taking him.”
Womble on the coaching search and committee:
“I can tell you that as far as the search committee, I’m very confident that the coach we select to lead the program will be somebody that everybody is very happy with. The interest that we have from sitting coaches, assistants, agents… it really is probably one of the best 10 or 12 jobs in the country. If you look at our facilities, our support from our fans, our commitment from the athletic department, it is a job that will stack up against any other job in the country.”
