Drama continues to rock the UNM men's basketball program, which was thrown for yet another tumultuous loop when junior point guard Marlon Parmer quit the team Tuesday night.
Head coach Fran Fraschilla and Parmer traded assessments of their relationship and its ultimate demise, differing on nearly every point, including whether Parmer quit or was about to be dismissed. Fraschilla said that the point guard probably thought he beat Fraschilla to the punch, but would not have been welcomed into practice Wednesday had he not quit the night before.
Parmer responded that he couldn't take being on the team anymore, adding that he and Fraschilla were just too similar personalities to work together because neither would give an inch in an argument.
"This was just the final straw; I just got sick and tired of just playing mind games," Parmer said. "I did love the team and always put that first. It was really a conflict between me, coach and his staff, not the players. It was just best for me to play somewhere else because I was losing my love of basketball and it just wasn't fun anymore."
Fraschilla said during a Wednesday morning press conference that Parmer's departure was in the best interest of the team.
"I feel like 100 pounds of weight has been lifted off my back," Fraschilla said. "No one player is more important than the rest of the program. I'll coach that way until I'm done coaching, that no one player can be bigger than the program. I think this got to be a situation where we had a lot of guys on the same page, and we had one player that was not on the same page."
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He later added, "Simply put, we feel like a black cloud has been lifted over our program today."
Parmer said he seriously thought about leaving after UNM's 73-58 win over Brigham Young University Saturday, his first game back after a suspension that Fraschilla said was imposed for "team reasons" and alluded that it dealt with Parmer's interactions with teammates. Parmer contends he was never told why he was suspended and that the coach was being verbally abusive with him.
"I saw how everything was going, how he was so fake with me, how he made it seem like our relationship was so good in interviews, and I didn't feel that way," Parmer said.
The point guard, who started all three years for the Lobos, added he and Fraschilla could not get along this season because the coach portrayed him as selfish and adjusted the offense to a half-court style that did not fit Parmer's style of play, which is up-tempo and fast-breaking.
"I just think it got to a point where he thought I was too flashy and too flamboyant," Parmer said. "He made it seem like I wasn't a humble person and took shots at me when talking with other players, but the truth is that I'm one of the hardest working guys on the team."
Parmer also said that Fraschilla was verbally abusive to him during practice and that he feared that one of the team's assistant coaches was going to physically attack him during practice, a point that the coach adamantly denied.
"I have not read the paper but some of the things I've heard that were alleged are a bunch of baloney coming from a selfish kid with a selfish father, period," Fraschilla said of Parmer's comments to local newspapers announcing his departure.
The coach said the allegations and Parmer's decision further illustrated his incompatibility with the team, saying he and his staff had helped Parmer through academic, legal and team issues. Fraschilla added that he had given Parmer numerous chances to fall in line, but was disappointed that he had shown signs he was willing to change but never really was able to do it.
Parmer said he expected that reaction and knew the coach would discuss his previously being accused of sexual assault, but he was never charged. Parmer said he was hurt because he had stood by Fraschilla and helped him with recruiting. The point guard was surprised when told that Fraschilla called himself Parmer's biggest fan and a Christian who urged second and third chances for those who are having trouble.
"He can call himself my biggest fan, but he was my biggest defender," Parmer said.
Parmer's departure made him the ninth Lobo to leave during Fraschilla's tenure for either disciplinary reasons or because players claimed the coach was verbally abusive. The coach dismissed the idea that the departures indicate a problem with his program, saying that the players who left are not doing much right now.
"All I can tell Lobo fans is if they want me just to win, they've got the wrong coach," he said. "If they want a coach who hopefully will be able to win a few games and also run a program that's classy and we make guys go to class, where we make them do things the right way, fine."
Fraschilla added that he has since rethought how he recruits athletes, emphasizing character now more so than he had done in the past.
Parmer wished his former teammates well on the rough road that lies ahead in the heat of conference play, saying he hoped they would win and knew what they were going through. He thanked the trainers, manager and fans for supporting him and said he regretted leaving because he would miss those relationships but had to put UNM basketball behind him.
"I'm happy to move on with my life even though it will be tough not being in practice, but the Lord put obstacles in life for a reason," he said. "And, people will see that everyone who left this program didn't leave for no reason."
