Webutuck grad hits national radar after run-in with college coach

AMENIA — A Webutuck graduate and current sophomore at a Pennsylvania college made national headlines last week as allegations of assault by his basketball coach peaked with an appearance on live television. Matt Kravchuck, an Amenia resident, and John O’Connor, the former varsity basketball coach at Holy Family University, were quickly swept up in the middle of a whirlwind controversy in Pennsylvania following the incident.The incidentThe original incident, captured on videotape, showed O’Connor elbowing the 19-year-old Kravchuck in the face and pushing him to the floor in the middle of a rebounding drill, causing the student’s lip to bleed. The coach was then seen berating the player, using profanity and eventually kicking him out of practice.Following the Jan. 25 practice, Kravchuk contacted the school’s athletic director to complain and was told that the situation would be taken care of.The publicityBut according to the family’s attorney, Jack Cohen, nothing was done, and several weeks later Kravchuk filed a police report against the coach. Once Kravchuk filed the report, the school suspended O’Connor and the video went viral online. National news organizations quickly picked up on the piece, and O’Connor and Kravchuk, with their lawyers present, appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Google reported that by Feb. 25 nearly 300 news organizations and online blogs had carried the story.During the ABC interview, Kravchuk said it was hard to accept his coach’s apology. During the taping of the show, O’Connor said the incident was “a mistake,” but added that he didn’t feel that what he did was over the line. Shortly after the interview, the Pennsylvania district attorney’s office released a statement saying it wouldn’t be pressing charges against the coach. News later broke that O’Connor resigned as Holy Family’s basketball coach.Neither Matt nor his parents, who live in Amenia, could be reached for comment, but the Kravchuks’ attorney said that at this point the issue was considered resolved by the family, even though he said they were disappointed with the coach’s response.“I think they were proud of Matt, as a result of his ability to hold his composure and respond to the questions [during the interview],” Cohen said. “But I think they were disappointed by the coach’s clear lack of understanding that any of his actions were inappropriate.”Cohen said that he would hope the issue with his client might bring national discussion to instances where a coach’s “aggressive nature crosses the line.”“If you really take the time to look at the video, this was not an accident,” the attorney continued. “My second response would be, if this were an accident, in my opinion the coach would have walked over and assisted Matt up from the ground, especially when he saw him bleeding. He wouldn’t have kicked him out of practice.”The responseO’Connor could not be reached for comment in this article; a representative from Holy Family University said it was not going to comment on the situation.Cohen added that despite the initial incident, if the school had been prompt and forthcoming with a response when Kravchuk originally contacted the athletic director, the entire situation could have been avoided.“The university didn’t even tell them that any action had been taken other than that it had been handled,” he continued. “It was on ‘Good Morning America’ that the family first learned what action had been taken. It makes no logical sense that once the matter became public, the university suspended the coach. The facts didn’t change three weeks later.”Webutuck weighs inDale Culver, president of the Webutuck Board of Education, said that he saw the videotape and was appalled.“It is absolutely ridiculous for a school coach to behave that way,” Culver said. “If there was a similar situation here, we would insist that the coach be suspended immediately pending investigation. The investigation would commence immediately, during which the coach would not be allowed to perform any duties. And I would imagine judgment would happen pretty quickly if there was a video tape.”“I know all coaches can be aggressive and sometimes that’s OK,” Cohen said when asked if he believed the issue was an isolated incident or whether it shed light on a much larger problem. “But all coaches need to know where to draw the line, and when you do cross the line you need to be able to recognize it, appreciate it and not do it again.”Letting the dust settleAt this point, Cohen said, the family has no intentions to take any future legal actions. He said that Kravchuk, who has remained at Holy Family during the entire ordeal and has continued going to classes, plans to stay at the university, where he has a 3.8 grade point average.“Is he going to continue to play basketball?” the attorney asked. “I know he would like to play, that’s all I can tell you.”