Former Marist hoop star heads to Miami despite new coach; clears air about last year’s situation
For the second straight year, Rashid Dunbar was relegated to the role of spectator at the ABCD Camp at Fairleigh Dickinson University last week. He was sitting in the stands at the four-day basketball camp watching the rest of the nation’s best prospects participate. But Dunbar, having graduated from high school a year ago, was ineligible.
Last year, Dunbar couldn’t participate because he was still recovering from the injuries he had suffered in a horrific automobile accident – an accident in May of 1999 that nearly took the teenager’s life. It was almost miraculous that Dunbar, a standout at Marist during his sophomore and junior years, was even able to attend the camp, never mind think about possibly participating. He had suffered a broken jaw, broken ribs and several internal injuries after spending 10 days in a coma.
At the time, Dunbar was still making the strides towards a full recovery, simply taking free throws and working on stamina.
Now, a year later, Dunbar is feeling 100 percent healthy, both mentally and physically. He has ridden himself from a year of tumult and turmoil. The past year saw the 6-4 Dunbar branded a traitor for going back on his word of a verbal commitment to Seton Hall. Then, he was accused of having a mental problem by his high school coach, something his coach claimed was the reason why Dunbar only participated in six games throughout his senior season.
Now, the school that Dunbar finally signed with, the University of Miami, has hired a new basketball coach, and Dunbar is insisting that he’s staying put, living up to the commitment he gave to the school and former coach Leonard Hamilton last fall.
Recently, when Dunbar heard rumors that Coach Hamilton was set to leave Miami for the NBA’s Washington Wizards, he wondered what else could go wrong.
"I was kind of upset," Dunbar said. "He had just signed a seven-year contract at Miami, so I figured he would be there for the rest of my college career. But Coach Hamilton called me and said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Once I heard about it on TV, I knew he was taking the job. He told me that I could always call him and talk to him. I couldn’t believe my luck. For me, if it isn’t one thing, it’s another."
Dunbar said that he is not that familiar with the new Miami coach, former Tulane coach Perry Clark, nor has he heard from Clark yet.
"I guess I’ll have to get to know [Clark], because I’m going to stick it out," Dunbar said. "I have to stick to my word this time."
The truth about last year
When Dunbar first announced in a press conference last fall that he was attending Seton Hall to join the heralded recruiting class of Eddie Griffin, Andre Barrett and Dunbar’s long-time best friend Marcus Toney-El, he knew he was making a mistake, yet still made the announcement.
"I knew I rushed into it," said Dunbar. "I wanted to sign to be a part of that class with Eddie and Marcus, but I wasn’t really comfortable with it from the minute I made it. [Seton Hall] Coach [Tommy] Amaker was loyal to me after the accident, coming to see me in the hospital, so I felt I owed it to him. I really didn’t think it out when I made the announcement. It was wrong."
The unpopular decision also led to problems with people very close to Dunbar. For example, former Marist coach Chris Chevannes was angry that he didn’t have a say in the recruiting process, which was handled by long-time family friend and former Marist assistant coach Ken Pignatello.
Chevannes had a prior problem with Amaker, openly criticizing Amaker’s handling of former Pirate point guard Shaheen Holloway, who is Chevannes’ legal guardian. Chevannes was trying to sway Dunbar away from Seton Hall, while Pignatello wanted him to head to South Orange, making Dunbar the victim of an emotional tug-of-war between the two coaches.
"I knew that Coach Chris had something against Seton Hall and when I made the decision to go there, he was mad at me," Dunbar said. "He was mad that whole day. I recall being at Coach Ken’s house and getting a call from Coach Chris and he had an attitude, telling me that Coach Ken babied me. But Coach Ken has been like a father to me and never did me wrong. Coach Chris was trying to manipulate me."
Chevannes said that his prior relationship with Amaker had nothing to do with the decision.
"I have no problems with Tommy," Chevannes said. "I’ve learned a lot from him, both in coaching and in non-coaching. I never had a problem with him. I just wanted Rashid to experience the entire recruiting process. He didn’t go through that. Rashid said that he was going through a lot of things in his life and he just wanted to move on, that he had so many pressures to go to Seton Hall. I [said to] him if he had so much pressure, then he should consider other options, that he should re-open the recruiting process.
"I absolutely felt I would take a hit for it," Chevannes said. "But to me, the most important thing was Rashid, what was in the best interest for Rashid. I still feel comfortable with it."
Dunbar was worried that his decision may change the way some very close people felt about him.
"When I decided to change my mind, I felt like I was letting Coach Ken down," Dunbar said. "I mean, he was doing what he thought was the best thing for me, but he also wanted to see me play all the time. It wasn’t the right thing for me and I told him that. At first, he was upset, but he realized it was my decision."
Dunbar also took a lot of heat from his friends, especially Toney-El.
"Marcus is a wise guy and he gave me a lot of grief about it," Dunbar said. "But he understands now. I told him why I changed my mind, that I had to do what was best for me. I know Marcus still loves me."
When the high school season was set to begin in December, Chevannes told Dunbar that he was not going to be a starter for Marist.
"He told me that I wasn’t going to start because I wasn’t with the team during the summer," Dunbar said. "I said, ‘What was I supposed to do? I was in the hospital. I didn’t understand it. He said that he was doing what was best for me."
Dunbar was so upset with Chevannes that he didn’t dress for the season opener. Chevannes told members of the media that Dunbar didn’t play because he was suffering from bronchitis. Dunbar was spotted at the Marist gym that night, sitting high in the stands, away from the Marist bench.
"I was angry I wasn’t playing," Dunbar said. "So I sat in the stands. I could have played. I wasn’t sick."
The relationship between Dunbar and Chevannes became more and more strained, until a point where Chevannes allegedly singled Dunbar out during a practice, blasting him in front of the rest of the team.
"He told the team that I was selfish, that I was a cancer, that I was only thinking about myself," Dunbar said. "So I didn’t want to play for him anymore."
"Those remarks were true, but I said that to Rashid before he had the accident," Chevannes said. "I felt I had to be honest with him and a little hard on him."
Dunbar walked away after seeing action in just six games. It was first reported that Dunbar was having problems with the broken jaw, after receiving an elbow to the jaw in one game.
"I could have played," Dunbar said. "It was more him [Chevannes] than the jaw. I was more upset with him than anything. The doctors told me to relax for a few days, but it wasn’t the jaw. And he just kept talking."
Chevannes said that there wasn’t a problem between him and his standout performer.
"The perception is that Rashid and I have a bad relationship," Chevannes said. "But that’s not true. I have a very good relationship with him and I speak to him regularly. It’s totally out of left field. I don’t think our relationship has ever been different than it was in the past."
When people asked about Dunbar’s whereabouts, Chevannes went as far as to tell members of the media at Madison Square Garden that Dunbar was suffering from depression, without a formal medical report stating such.
"I was informed by a school official that he could be depressed, so I went with that," Chevannes said. "It was wrong. I made a mistake to do that."
"When I heard he said that I was depressed, I was so mad," Dunbar said. "And my mother was on fire. It made me look so bad, like there was something mentally wrong with me. I confronted him about it and he told me that he didn’t mean anything by it, but people still wonder if there’s something wrong. People at Miami read it in the paper and called to ask if I was depressed. He had no business saying that. Basically, he told everyone that there was something wrong with me in my head. He was what was wrong."
Dunbar did not play another game for Marist.
"I didn’t expect him never to play again, but it got to a point where I had a program to worry about," Chevannes said. "He had a lot of support people telling him what to do. I had a program of 25 kids. If he came around, that would have been fine. But I wasn’t about to go chasing him down."
Things soon got worse for Chevannes and Marist. It was later learned that Marist had used an illegal player and the team was forced to forfeit all of its 20 games. After the season, Chevannes resigned.
Dunbar said that he has no relationship to speak of with his former coach.
"I may call him or say ‘Hi’ when I see him walking on the street," Dunbar said. "But to the point where I will hang out with him? It will never be that way again. He did put in the time to help me with basketball as a player. And I will never let that go. But trusting him? Never again. I’m real disappointed with the way things turned out."
Chevannes was asked if he was disappointed.
"I really truly don’t let things like this bother me," Chevannes said.
Dunbar assures that there is nothing wrong with him these days. The jaw is fine. His health is fine. He’s playing on a team with friends Griffin and Toney-El in the Jersey Shore Basketball League.
And Dunbar’s mental status is excellent. He’s ready to head to Miami next month and get on with his life, albeit with a new coach whom he doesn’t really know.
"I’m ready to put it all behind me," Dunbar said. "I want a clean sheet of paper, to start all over. I can’t believe all I’ve been through in the past year or so. I try to block it all out, but then someone will bring it up and it comes to my attention once again.
"I’ve learned a lot through it all," Dunbar said. "I’ve learned who I can trust and who I can’t. And I have to go on. It’s been frustrating, but I’ve worked so hard to get it back and I’m going to make the most of it."