After the Spring Hill game in the Den on Feb. 4, Mack Doby, political science junior and starting guard/ forward, was dismissed from the Loyola men’s basketball team.The reason for the dismissal, as described by head coach Jerry Hernandez, was conduct detrimental to the team.”It is best that he part ways with the team,” Hernandez said.The incident apparently came to a head in the Spring Hill game when late in the second half, Doby was called for a technical foul. The foul was for yelling at an official from the bench.Although the foul may have been the last event in a rocky relationship with Hernandez, it was only a small part of the dismissal.”It was a very tough decision, but it was one that had to happen,” Hernandez said. “I had no choice. It had to be done.”The day after the dismissal, a team meeting, which lasted about five minutes, was held. The meeting was to formally announce Doby’s dismissal to the team. According to Doby, dissention within the team was not part of the dismissal.”I’m fine with everyone on the team,” he said. “He [Hernandez] mistook things I said and did. … Our relationship wasn’t good.”Doby’s dismissal was not based on a single isolated incident.”Over the past month, my relationship with coach hasn’t been really that good,” Doby said. “He’s been taking things I said out of context and making them bad. … I’d say something about the ref, and he would take that as me being mad at him.”Another event in the Spring Hill game that spelled the end of Doby’s stay with the team involved a substitution near the end of the game.”[Coach] put me in after Brian [Bowers] broke the assist record. … I guess I didn’t run to the table enough or something,” Doby said. “He assumed I didn’t want to play.”Hernandez would not comment on some of the specifics of why Doby was dismissed saying that he did not want any information misconstrued. He did agree that he was angry about Doby’s actions during the substitution.”The team knows the reason why he was dismissed,” Hernandez said. “Everyone heard what he said to me and the refs during that game.” According to Doby, he has no plans to play anywhere else, although he is a nationally recognized player.”He [Hernandez] said he would call every coach he knew and tell them what an uncoachable player I was … but I’m not going to play anywhere else,” he said. Hernandez denies Doby’s accusation.”That is insane,” he said. “I didn’t say anything like that. Why would I say that? He is off the team, and that is the end of it.”Doby was the team’s predominant scorer for much of this season and was among the nation’s best from the free throw line.Doby is also the single season record holder for most three pointers with 120. He achieved the record during the 2000-2001 season.
—Additional reporting by Joe Kutner
Click here to start a discussion on this story.
