Mitchell, Coppin still at odds

The awkward, three-week standoff between Fang Mitchell and Coppin State University shows no sign of relenting anytime soon. Mitchell, the iconic coach who lifted Coppin to basketball prominence in the 1990s, declined an offer from the university on March 17 to return for his 26th season.

 At the time, he said the offer was not in good faith, but declined to go further. Since then, he has communicated only minimally with university president Reginald Avery, and he had to cancel a Tuesday meeting because of the death of his father-in-law, Rudolph Lewis, on Monday. Now, there will be no talks before the funeral on Tuesday.

All of which leaves Mitchell twisting in the wind. Technically, his contract doesn’t expire until June 30.


Videographer: Andazmedia

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Mitchell calls Coppin's contract offer 'unacceptable'‎

Coppin State University Athletic Director Derrick Ramsey

Baltimore, MD -- Fang Mitchell rejected an offer Thursday to remain as coach of Coppin State's men's basketball team, saying the contract was "unacceptable" but that negotiations will continue.

"It wasn't done in good faith," Mitchell said of the offer after a scheduled meeting with university president Reginald Avery.

Mitchell has coached at Coppin for 25 years, won 395 games, gone to four NCAA tournaments and captured 10 regular-season championships in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

He declined to say why the contract was unacceptable, but he said he expected negotiations to resume next week.

Asked if he believed he could still get a deal to remain at Coppin, he said, "Yes, in talking with the president, we should be able to get it done."

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Coppin State's Coach Fang Mitchell future unknown heading into regular-season finale

25 Years, 620 Victories, 10 MEAC Championships, 4 NCAA Tournaments and too
 many money games against the NCAA Top 25 to count -- provides
Ron "Fang" Mitchell with "Legendary Statue" in East Baltimore at Coppin State University
 and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.  No doubt, Coach Mitchell still has game!

Endings are usually bittersweet, often unwelcomed and sometimes contentious.

That might best describe the potential end of Ron "Fang" Mitchell's 25-year basketball stewardship at Coppin State University. If this is his farewell script, it will not be a good one for the man who built a dominating Division I program in West Baltimore in the 1990s, only to see it sputter and stall in the last decade.

Mitchell's departure this year is not certain. But his contract expires at the end of the season, the athletic director says he hasn't made a decision to retain -- or remove -- the coach, and Mitchell himself speaks only in cryptic phrases, if at all, about his job status.

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