ACCC suspends Hicks as women’s head coach

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Sports

January 25, 2011 - 12:00 AM

Allen County Community College suspended Red Devil women’s head basketball coach Marcus Hicks for the remainder of the season.
The college announced the suspension, effective immediately, in an e-mail Monday afternoon. Assistant coach Sacha Santinmano assumes the head women’s basketball coaching role on an interim basis, the announcement said.
“Marcus has been suspended from basketball for conduct  detrimental to the program,” Allen County Athletic Director Randy Weber told The Register Monday afternoon. “He will continue his contract as an admissions counselor.”
Hicks’ suspension comes on the heels of his second ejection, after two technical fouls, from a basketball game Wednesday at Fort Scott Community College. His first ejection came early in the season.
Santinmano coached the final 13 minutes of Wednesday’s game and also filled the coaching duties at Saturday’s home game against Independence, Santin mano, a Lansing native, played two years at Neosho County Community College in Chanute, 1999-2001.
She played at Dakota State University in Madison, S.D. Santinmano was an assistant coach at the University of Cumberlands and at Asbury College, both in Kentucky.
In his first season as head coach at ACCC, the Red Devil women got out to a 2-1 start. But after that, the Red Devils have lost 16 games in a row. Allen County is 0-8 in Jayhawk Eastern Division play.
“They (the college) did what they thought was necessary and what was right,” said Hicks, when contacted by the Register Monday evening. “It was never about wins and losses for me this year. It was about changing the mindset here.”
Hicks had been out of coaching for two years but guided McPherson College’s women to a 19-9 season, finishing third in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference in 2007-2008.
Allen County’s women have had just one winning season in the past nine years under now six different coaches.
The Red Devils play at home Wednesday against Cowley County.

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