When former USF soccer coach Jim Leavitt was arrested for assaulting his former girlfriend, stealing her belongings and placing his fingers on one other man again in August, USF alumni Kathy and her daughter Jamie Miller had been hopeful that their alma mater’s Athletic Corridor of Fame committee would change its collective thoughts about inducting Leavitt into the USF Corridor.
In spite of everything, Leavitt had beforehand assaulted Kathy’s son, Jamie’s brother and former USF soccer participant Joel Miller at halftime of a sport the Bulls had been successful again in 2009, lied about it, satisfied Joel to go together with his lie as a result of he was, “probably the most highly effective man within the constructing,” however received fired for it anyway, had the rest of his contract purchased out by the college to the tune of $2.75 million, was instructed to by no means come again however went on to obtain a number of subsequent teaching jobs regardless of this less-than-impressive resume.
However, issues didn’t go almost as effectively for Joel or his household after that. Joel was blamed for being the “child” who received Leavitt fired, couldn’t present his face on campus, received hit within the head with a thrown brick and noticed his as soon as promising future go down the drain earlier than passing away at age 29 in 2017.
How Leavitt’s title was even on USF’s Corridor of Fame poll this yr is past the imagining of this editor. Sure, he began the college’s soccer program nevertheless it by no means received something of consequence below his management. But, there he was — one in every of 5 inductees within the Class of 2025. Simply utilizing Leavitt’s title and “Class” in the identical sentence makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.
On Sept. 10, the eighth anniversary of Joel’s passing, it was introduced that the brand new prices towards Leavitt had been dropped — attention-grabbing timing contemplating the actual fact he had solely not too long ago been introduced as a USF Corridor inductee.
Then, on Sept. 17, I introduced Kathy and Jamie into the Emorys Rock Realty Podcast Studio on the North Tampa Bay Chamber workplace in The Outlets at Wiregrass to attempt to assist sway USF into altering its collective thoughts about inducting this lowlife. Kathy and Jamie began a Change.org petition that has now been signed by 641 folks and so they did every thing they may —made cellphone calls, despatched emails and even stopped in on the USF Athletics workplace to attempt to get somebody to speak to them and replace them about this unhappy state of affairs. As an alternative, they had been instructed that in the event that they didn’t go away the premises, they’d be escorted out by the campus police. That podcast episode was considered greater than 2,300 instances on Fb.
“We remained calm, didn’t elevate our voices, didn’t threaten anybody,” Kathy mentioned, “we simply wished somebody to speak to us.” “Unhappy,” Jamie added.
Into this unenviable state of affairs stepped Rob Higgins, one other USF grad who has spent the final twenty years because the super-successful Tampa Bay Sports activities Fee govt director. Higgins was formally named the first-ever chief govt officer of a serious faculty athletic division on Sept. 18 (though he didn’t formally assume the job till Oct. 1) and, on Sept. 19, dedicated his first fumble in his new place.
Higgins introduced on X (previously Twitter) that, “Jim Leavitt and I’ve had candid and productive conversations…We’ve mutually agreed that he is not going to attend and/or be acknowledged at [the Oct. 2] USF Athletics Corridor of Fame induction ceremony.”
Did that imply Leavitt was now not being inducted? No, it didn’t. On Oct. 2, Higgins (proper) oversaw the Class of 2025 induction, which didn’t point out Leavitt, nor was his photograph proven with these of the opposite inductees — former USF males’s basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, who handed away on Oct. 24, 2024, baseball legend Scott Hemond, girls’s basketball star Kitija Laksa and soccer nice Kawika Mitchell. There have been a number of feedback on Fb that Leavitt ought to have been included, which begs the query: If a “Corridor of Fame” is an honor bestowed solely on the very best of the very best, why would somebody elected to a Corridor not be invited to or included of their induction ceremony?
Higgins mentioned in his submit on X that, “Coach Leavitt understands the significance of USF Athletics with the ability to honor this yr’s inductees with out distraction.” Actually?
Will Leavitt’s mug shot be added to the Corridor anyway? Shouldn’t the college be so happy with each inductee to not care what some folks assume?
I attended the information convention on Sept. 22 when Higgins was launched to the general public and I used to be impressed with every thing he needed to say. I imagine he will probably be a terrific chief of USF Athletics.
However, I additionally say this was one he muffed and that he ought to have at the least talked to the Miller household earlier than finalizing this really unhealthy resolution.
