Someone is lying.
Either recently appointed Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann is lying or the 15 members of her Tennessee women’s volleyball team were lying 16 years ago, and they continue to lie today, about allegations Hermann was a verbally abusive coach.
Either a couple of Hermann’s former assistant coaches, who have come out in support of Hermann, are lying, or a former supervising administrator at Tennessee, who says Hermann was fired only because of bad performance (she was 77-106 in six seasons), is lying.
Either Dr. Robert Barchi is lying because he is trying to hold together the $1 billion deal that on July 1 will merge Rutgers University with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, or he truly believes Hermann is the best candidate, which might be worse than lying because 63 individuals initially were considered by the search committee.
Regardless of who is lying and who is telling the truth (if anyone), the clouds of doubt that have settled over the Garden State likely aren’t going to dissipate any time soon. Which means Hermann will have a hard time fulfilling one of the key roles of an athletic director — making it rain.
An AD must be a fundraiser, which begs the question: Who in their right minds would give a $2 bill to Rutgers after the goings on that have played out the past six months?
“I would say the ability to inspire donors to support these student-athletes is a one-on-one conversation, and when I actually have the opportunity to actually arrive on campus and met the people who are going to be critically involved with supporting Rutgers, I think they will meet me and know me and know what I stand for,’’ Hermann said Monday on a conference call.
Therein lies the problem: Almost any potential Rutgers donor didn’t know Julie Hermann from Pee-wee Herman until May 16, when she was introduced as the university’s next athletic director. Ten days later a Newark Star-Ledger article detailed her verbal abuse of players 16 years ago, which she has emphatically denied.
She was hired with the charge of making certain no Rutgers student-athlete would suffer the physical and verbal indignations that were heaped on men’s basketball players by former coach Mike Rice, who was fired April 3 for physical and verbal abuse.
Rutgers could have brought in a candidate with a laundry list of NCAA violations, and that would have gone over better than a candidate who allegedly was Mike Rice before Mike Rice.
“She has no credibility,’’ former New Jersey governor and current state senator Richard Codey told The Post. “The public, the alumni, anyone you can think of has no faith in her from a fundraising standpoint.’’
The only way Hermann doesn’t assume her post on June 17 is if she resigns, which she said on Monday she has not considered, or if the university’s board of governors rescinds its offer.
Unless Gov. Chris Christie doesn’t put the weight of his office behind forcing the board to do so, Hermann will be the new AD. Then she can begin the process of telling donors what she stands for.
Who believes she will tell the truth?