Two people immediately jump to my mind who deeply love Marshall University.
One is Bobby Pruett.
The other is Danny D?Antoni.
They are two of a kind. They don?t just bleed green, they breathe green. So, for Marshall officials to do anything to alienate or hurt or offend these two long-standing pillars of Marshall?s tradition would be an extremely grievous act.
Yet, that?s precisely what happened late Monday afternoon.
It was unthinkable.
It was unconscionable.
Marshall and D?Antoni parted ways after the 76-year-old D?Antoni fulfilled the first year of a three-year extension given in March 2023.
As far as D?Antoni knew, he was going to fulfill at least one more year of that contract. But then Marshall athletic director Christian Spears informed D?Antoni that he wouldn?t return, D?Antoni said.
The news sent shock waves through the community and state of West Virginia.
Particularly, since D?Antoni had told me that Smith had told him that the only person who could fire D?Antoni was Smith himself.
That?s not how it played out, however.
So, what happened? Did MU?s president get cold feet? Or did Spears simply wear down Smith on this issue?
Many of us have opinions, but we don?t know for certain.
What we do know is the highest-regarded persona in the history of Marshall basketball isn?t affiliated with the Herd anymore.
That?s sad.
Very sad.
And it didn?t have to be that way. Yes, Marshall had a poor 13-20 record in 2023-24. But D?Antoni also had struggled through a 12-21 season in 2021-22. Well, guess what? The Herd?s record was 24-8 the next season.
That is vintage D?Antoni.
Except now he is out of second chances. Which is rather odd for an icon. Usually, an icon gets second and even third chances.
Did D?Antoni deserve one more shot?
Of course he did.
What other Marshall basketball coach has won a game in the NCAA Tournament? Only D?Antoni. In 2018, he led the 13th-seeded Herd to an 81-75 victory over No. 4 seed Wichita State in San Diego.
So, does everybody really believe D?Antoni can?t pull rabbits out of his hat anymore?
Not me.
I have known Danny since 1970 ? 54 years. In case anybody didn?t notice, that coincided with the horrific Marshall airplane crash. I was a student journalist for The Parthenon (MU?s school newspaper) at the time, and our sports editor perished in the crash. So, I went over to Gullickson Hall to try to get a quote from an MU athletic official.
The first person I saw was D?Antoni, a MU assistant coach. I never will forget his answer to my one question: what does Marshall do now?
?I don?t know,? D?Antoni said, with tears in his eyes. ?Everyone who knew what to do is gone.?
That?s the D?Antoni I?ve known for all these many years.
Has he lost a coaching step? Maybe. Maybe not. But, either way, Danny D?Antoni deserved the benefit of the doubt. He has earned at least that much during all these many years.
And not to give it to him?
To tell the school?s most iconic basketball figure, ?Thanks, but no thanks??
Marshall should be ashamed.
Chuck Landon is a sports columnist for The Herald-Dispatch. Contact him at clandon@herald-dispatch.com.