Century College Coach Relieved Over MNSCU's N.C. Decision
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota State Colleges and Universities has lifted the ban on all state travel to North Carolina, as Gov. Mark Dayton considers doing the same.
Century College baseball coach Dwight Kotila found out that MNSCU lifted the ban just before appearing on WCCO's Sports to the Max with Mike Max.
Kotila had informed his team earlier in the week that the ban could keep them from playing in the national junior college tournament scheduled later this spring in North Carolina.
"It's been a crazy couple days," Kotila said. "The first thing that came into my mind was, 'How are we going to tell the players?'"
The team was on its way back from a doubleheader in Iowa when Kotila gathered the players in the back of the team bus.
"I was just very honest and straightforward with them. This has nothing to do with the student-athlete side, this is on a bigger scale and a different issue that's totally unassociated with them," he said.
After a few questions were asked, the players settled in for the rest of the trip that brought they back to campus after midnight Wednesday morning. The team had a game later that afternoon, after a full day of classes.
"I was really proud the way they reacted, they took it in stride," said Kotila about his players. "Their focus on the field was tremendous. They had the right attitude. I kept telling them there's a chance that this could be reversed. You got to keep that in mind, and let's stay focused on what we got to do to get there."
Kotila called it a life-learning experience, "not just our student-athletes, but coaches and everybody."