Jim Gazzolo column: Aiken’s message received

Published 10:33 am Thursday, February 17, 2022

A halftime scuffle during the game at Southeastern Louisiana led to the biggest test in John Aiken’s brief tenure as the head basketball coach at McNeese State.

What started in the closing minutes of the first half last Thursday carried over into the break as two key members of the Cowboys got into a fight in which punches were thrown.

McNeese went on to lose that game to the Lions, the third time this season the Cowboys lost to Southeastern. But the game took a back seat to the altercation.

The family feud could have ripped apart what is left of this season. With a road game at Northwestern State just hours away, Aiken had little time to decide.

Does he let the two players play against the Demons or sit them and hurt the Cowboys chances at victory? It was a dilemma that would go a long way in the perception of his program.

“It was tough because you don’t want to hurt the other players and their chances to win,” Aiken said. “It was a big game.”

It was also a big moment for the first-year Cowboys coach who had said he wanted to set a standard at McNeese and win the right way. Drama was not part of the formula.

“I got some input from people, but ultimately it was my call,” Aiken said. “That’s what the job is about. You have to make the tough calls.

“You can talk all you want about what you would do, but when it is real and involves a real situation and players, it is different.”

Aiken decided that when the bus left for Natchitoches last Saturday morning, Kellon Taylor and Collin Warren, the two combatants, would be left in Lake Charles.

In that moment Aiken sent a clear message that winning isn’t everything. In the past that has gotten lost at McNeese.

“Those are two great kids and I love them both, but you have to set standards,” said Aiken. “I could not talk about setting standards and living up to them and having pillars of what our program is about and not stand behind them.

“You have to send the message that how we act and how we treat each other is important. I know we needed the win but this is where the rubber meets the road. I had to decide what type of program we want to be. The standards have to be the standards.”

In the end the eight players who took the floor last Saturday proved their coach was right.

Playing as a team connected, they rallied around their head coach and knocked off the Demons, coming back to win down the stretch after losing a double-digit lead.

“It is great that we won that game,” Aiken said. “I could not be more proud of those guys and how they played and how they reacted to my decision.

“It was a load off my mind that they were able to win the game, but that really doesn’t matter in the end. It made it easier for me, but the decision was the right one no matter what the outcome of the game.”

Aiken passed his first major test as the Cowboys head coach after being promoted from top assistant. He says both players are welcome back but have some standards to meet.

“It is different when you are in charge,” Aiken said. “You have to make the call and stand by your beliefs. If you don’t you really can’t ask others to do so.

“I want to be at McNeese a long time. I want to make this program stand for the right things. This isn’t about one incident or one game, it is bigger than that.”

And his players proved by winning that they had their coach’s back.

That’s Aiken’s biggest win of all.

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Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese State athletics for the American Press. Email him at jimgazzolo@yahoo.com