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Former Duke guard and assistant coach Chris Collins has had some ups and downs at Northwestern, with a fast start, culminating with the school’s first-ever NCAA bid coming in 2016-17.
Things got choppy for a couple of years and then Covid hit. It took a while, but Collins got back on track and last spring got back to the NCAAs.
That’s the good news for Northwestern athletics. And the bad?
It’s pretty bad.
In recent days, hazing allegations have driven off the football coach and affected other sports. Athletics Director Mike Poliskey resigned. And now, lawsuits have been filed.
And two of them target, among others, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, who hired Collins in 2013 in his capacity as Northwestern AD.
It’s turned into a really ugly scandal for Northwestern, a school that takes a lot of pride in academic integrity. It’s the premiere academic school in the Big Ten, and now it’s the one with the worst public image, at least for the moment.
There is good news though: to the best of our knowledge, no one has pointed a finger at men’s basketball or Chris Collins. Not that would have expected it - Collins has always seemed an honorable fellow - but it’s great to see him stand above all of this.
Correction - Poliskey departed in 2021.
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