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After four eligible players left the SIU women's basketball team and more have announced plans to leave early, coach Dana Eikenberg is under review and at the forefront of allegations of verbal abuse.
Since the team's 2006-07 Missouri Valley Conference championship, Dana Olsen, Tanaeya Worden, Courtney Grant and Debbie Burris separately announced plans to leave the team with eligibility still remaining. Senior forward Cortney Sales confirmed Sunday that freshmen guards Ellen Young and Brenna Saline have asked for their releases after a disappointing season left the team near the bottom of the MVC standings.
Director of Athletics Mario Moccia said he has launched a full review of the program and wants to find out why leaving the team early has become a trend. Moccia confirmed that multiple players have asked for their release but said he wouldn't get into specifics because of privacy issues.
"Whenever a student athlete leaves, we always want to find out why," Moccia said.
Freshman Brenna Saline received a blanket release from the team after the season was over. She said she left the program because of the way she and her teammates were treated.
"To pinpoint one situation wouldn't be fair, but the way she talked to us was inappropriate," Saline said.
Sales, who has played two years for the former MVC Women's Basketball Coach of the Year, said Eikenberg mistreated the team and harassed players verbally.
"Everything was really personal and it really took the fun out of the game," Sales said. "During film sessions she would call us a piece of shit and say we were worthless and a disgrace to the program."
Freshman Tanaeya Worden did not return multiple messages for comment.
After coming off a 21-11 season that included a MVC regular season championship, the Salukis fell to 10-20 and dealt with defections throughout the season.
Eikenberg said she isn't about to apologize for her intensity but is willing to take a step back and look at some of the things that went wrong during the season.
"I want to win championships, that's what I came here to do. I wasn't hired to keep this program at the bottom of the Valley," she said. "We had a true commitment last year during the championship season and we had solid leadership. We tried to get some kids we could mold and sometimes it just doesn't work out."
Burris, also a starter on the championship team, was the veteran member of those that have left early. Burris said she played hurt during the Salukis' championship season and started to feel the early effects of a possible back injury during the middle of the season, an injury that ultimately led her to leave the team in November.
"I tried to continue early in the season but I eventually decided to quit. When I decided to quit, they made me feel like I let the whole team down," Burris said. "She told me she'd take my scholarship because I wasn't worth her time, but that never happened."
Eikenberg said she would never play someone injured or put any of her players in a position to fail.
"How does that help the program?" Eikenberg said. "With that said, do you have to struggle to move forward? Absolutely."
Eikenberg said the seniors did not set a good example for the freshmen this season, which may have led to some problems with the largely freshmen class. Eikenberg was very critical of the seniors' performances throughout the season.
It is the athletic department's policy to do senior exit interviews at the end of every season for each sport at SIU. The coaches also go through an interview process to determine the positive and negative experiences.
Moccia said because of the circumstances he has conducted meetings with every player and coach on the team this season. He said he would not categorize the review as an investigation but rather a chance to get the full story amid various allegations.
Eikenberg received a five-year contract extension from Moccia June 17. The new deal called for a yearly base pay of $125,000.
Regardless of who leaves the team and who doesn't, Eikenberg said she is concerned with her perception as well as the team's perception.
"There's just some people who don't want to play for me and I won't apologize for my intensity because I want to be part of March Madness - it's who I am," Eikenberg said.
Eikenberg came to SIU from Missouri-Kansas City with Jayme Sweere, Carlai Moore, Erin Pauk and a pair of assistant coaches.
Jody Adams was Eikenberg's associate head coach before being hired by Murray State after the Salukis' championship season.
Sales said Adams played the role of good cop during the championship run.
"It was easy to ignore some of the things that Dana said to us last year because we were winning and Jody held her down," Sales said. "When they hired Megan Lanham, things fell apart because she fueled her fire."
Eikenberg said Adams' departure certainly had something to do with unrest among the players and not everyone on the team responded to Lanham, Adams' replacement at associate head coach.
Courtney Grant, who left the team in October, said she was kicked out of practice one day and was told to clean out her locker. She said she was upset when Eikenberg called her into a meeting and discussed a list of things she had to do to keep her scholarship.
"The list said that I had to do 12 study hours a week, that I couldn't miss classes and that my grade point average wouldn't drop from where it was. I probably should have went to someone about it but I didn't," Grant said.
Moccia said once the athletic department is made aware that somebody wants to transfer, he makes a quick decision on what is going to happen.
He said one release allows the player to go wherever they want to go while another option would be to allow the player to transfer anywhere aside from a specific list of schools.
"If the student-athlete disagrees with my decision, they can go to an outside group that would hear that appeal and no one from the athletic department could sit-in at that hearing and that group's decision would be final," Moccia said. "Scholarships are only a one-year agreement. Nobody gets their scholarship pulled but they may not get it renewed."
Moccia said he's considering two platforms in assessing Eikenberg's status with the team. The first, he said, focuses on Eikenberg's accomplishments both on and off the court.
"In the last three years, our women's basketball team has finished in the top-25 in grade point average," Moccia said. "When you look at our revenue, it's doubled from two years ago and this year it was up 35 percent. Our crowds have increased and the Pink Out has been great."
SIU hadn't won 20-plus games since 1992. Similarly, it was also its first outright conference championship since moving into the MVC.
Last season's turnaround was among the top-10 in the country in terms of win total and the season netted Eikenberg the MVC Coach of the Year award.
Moccia is also taking into account some of the negatives regarding Eikenberg's tenure.
"With defections and people leaving, we want to look at the reasons for that. We want to analyze it and talk to the kids and figure out if their concerns are valid and address them," Moccia said. "After that, we want to move forward, positively. That's where I am on her and the program."
Currently, Eikenberg is back on the recruiting trail trying to assemble a team next year. Next season's class should differ greatly from her all-freshmen class this season.
She said she's focused on the immediate future and will recruit the junior college level heavily.
Matt Hartwig can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 282 or at mhartwig@siu.edu.
