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Do IT this week: Layering
Coach says two starters broke rules. Another moves home. Two reserves quit
By Tom Gaffney
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Tuesday, Apr 29, 2008
If the women's basketball team at the University of Akron were to hold a scrimmage these days, the maximum possible configuration would be three-on-three.
The Zips are down to six returning scholarship holders after two-year UA coach Jodi Kest confirmed that five players — including three starters — will not be back for the 2008-09 season.
Kest said starters Sarah Tokodi and Riana Miller were dismissed for an unspecified violation of team rules, and another starter, Keyla Snowden, left on her own to play closer to her home of Lexington, Ky.
Kest also said that reserves Lauren Stephenson, who was suspended for part of the season for a violation of team rules, and Teresa Scott have quit.
''We want players at Akron to be 100 percent committed to the basketball program and the university,'' said Kest, who has the support of UA's athletic administration regarding the decisions. ''If they are not, if they feel they want to go somewhere else, I am always a supporter of that.
''I tell our players, 'If you are unhappy here and you want to go someplace else, I will support you.' ''
Tokodi, a 5-foot-9 sophomore guard from Marietta who starred at Parkersburg (W.Va.) Catholic, was named to the Mid-American Conference All-Freshman team in 2006-07 after fin
ishing second on the UA team in scoring at 12.6 points per game. She was leading the Zips in scoring (15.7) after 12 games in 2007-08 when she tore an anterior cruciate ligament in December and had surgery in January.
Miller, a 6-3 sophomore forward from Sylvania, was fourth for the Zips in scoring (8.0) and second in rebounding (4.7) last season.
The dismissals of Tokodi and Miller were steps Kest said she had to make.
''They broke team rules, and they know what was expected,'' said Kest, who has a 17-43 record at UA, including 7-24 in 2007-08. ''They are good kids, but I am trying to build a program and you have to follow the rules.
''It's never about the talent. I know I am doing the right thing. . . . It's irrelevant how good a player is; you have to follow the rules.''
Rumors surface
Tokodi said Kest questioned her commitment to the program after rumors surfaced that she was planning to transfer to West Virginia Wesleyan, where her sister, Teresa, will be a freshman player in 2008-09.
Tokodi, who still is rehabilitating her knee, conceded that she talked with Wesleyan coach Steve Tierney but not about playing there.
''She [Kest] asked me if I had talked to the coach at West Virginia Wesleyan, which I had, but about my sister,'' Tokodi said. ''She told me she didn't buy it.
''She said she heard from a coach in the West Virginia Conference that I was leaving. I wasn't planning on leaving.''
Tokodi said it was only after the dismissal that she decided to transfer to Wesleyan, where she will be eligible immediately because it is a Division II program. Tokodi plans a career in nursing, and that will be her major at Wesleyan. At UA, she had to wait until this summer to find out whether she was accepted into the nursing program.
''She [Kest] told me she was giving me what I wanted by dismissing me,'' said Tokodi, who said her grade-point average is 3.8 on a 4.0 scale.
Kest said she did not wish to comment about Tokodi's opinion, repeating that she was dismissed for rule violations.
Miller said Kest questioned her commitment to the program because there were rumors she was going to transfer to Henderson (Ark.) State to join friend and former teammate Danyelle Harris, who left the Zips after the 2006-07 season.
''In the middle of the season, I knew I needed a backup plan,'' Miller said. ''If it didn't work out for me at Akron, what steps did I need to take? I knew I had to have a backup plan. But that's all it was. I wasn't going to leave on my own.''
Miller, who has not decided whether she will transfer to Henderson State, said Kest also questioned her commitment to the program because she allegedly not work hard enough on her own talents, which in turn would have helped the team.
''She isn't in the gym 24 hours a day. I know I was doing extra work. I don't need her to see me in the gym to know I was working hard,'' Miller said.
As with Tokodi, Kest said she did not want to comment about Miller's allegations, saying only that Miller violated team rules.
Snowden, a 5-7 guard and a standout at Lexington Catholic, was an MAC All-Freshman Team selection in 2007-08 after averaging 14.2 points and setting a single-season UA record by making 91 3-point baskets.
Disappointed with loss
''Losing Keyla is disappointing. She had a great year for us. She did some terrific things,'' Kest said. ''I would love to have her back. But if she is unhappy and wants to be closer to family, I respect that.''
Snowden confirmed that her decision to leave was related to being so far away from home.
''I tried to leave in December, but she talked me into staying, and I didn't want to disappoint my teammates,'' said Snowden, who has not decided where she will play in the future. ''A lot of stuff that went on I didn't like, but the main reason I left is because I wanted to play closer to home.''
Stephenson, a 6-foot junior forward who played at Pickerington, averaged 3.0 points in 20 games, and Scott, a 5-7 sophomore guard from Columbus Eastmoor, averaged 2.5 points in 27 games.
Kest said she understood that Scott left because of a lack of playing time, but Scott denied that.
''Playing time had nothing to do with why I left. I didn't agree with some of the things she did behind closed doors . . . in talking to players and dealing with players,'' Scott said. ''She constantly contradicted herself. She kicked players off for minor things, so I didn't feel I could be part of a program like this.''
Scott said she has decided to give up basketball and will stay at UA to get her degree.
The departure of Tokodi and Snowden means the Zips have lost three MAC All-Freshman Team selections over one year.
Niki McCoy, who averaged 11.1 points as a freshman and 16.1 as a sophomore for the Zips, was suspended for the final two games of the 2006-07 season for a violation of team rules. McCoy, an MAC All-Freshman pick in 2005-06, later transferred to Bowling Green.
Support for coach
Mack Rhoades, the UA director of athletics, said the loss of such talented players is regrettable, but that he fully supports Kest, who is trying to build a program that has not had a winning record since 1998-99 and has an all-time record of 290-603 over 34 seasons.
''There has been no tradition in the women's basketball program. She is setting a new culture, and there will be certain players that don't fit in,'' Rhoades said. ''She is not building a team; she is building a program.
''We want something that is sustainable. Myself and the administration are behind her 100 percent.''
Jessica Deville, a graduating senior who saw little action in two years under Kest, also supports her former coach.
''Coach Kest's rules are clearly stated in the handbook,'' Deville said. ''Coach Kest is right; you can't break the rules.''
The Zips' roster includes only juniors Rachel Green (Northwest) and Ashley Veal (Wadsworth), sophomores Tori Arndt (West Branch) and Amber Witt (North Canton Hoover), and freshmen Kara Murphy (St. Vincent-St. Mary) and Amanda Sedlack.
Next season, UA is expected to have those players back, along with four incoming freshmen who have signed letters of intent. Kest also said she might sign other recruits to replace the departed players, but nothing is certain.
''The returning players are all committed 100 percent to the university and the basketball program,'' she said. ''We will be fine.''
Tom Gaffney can be reached at tgaffney@thebeaconjournal.com.
If the women's basketball team at the University of Akron were to hold a scrimmage these days, the maximum possible configuration would be three-on-three.
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