REXBURG, Idaho — Ricks College football coach Ron Haun sat with his family and other members of the Ricks College student body and faculty in anticipation of Wednesday morning's announcement that the college was being converted to a four-year school and being renamed Brigham Young University-Idaho.
It was LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley's announcement that all intercollegiate athletic programs at the school would be phased out that caught Haun by surprise.
"It was like I got blindsided. We had no inkling. There was no professional courtesy that this was going to happen and we haven't had any comment since," Haun said. "I have no details. The kids don't know. Parents don't know. Kids on missions are calling."
Luke Chatwin, a 1999 graduate of Orem High School has the same concern.
Before Wednesday's announcement, he was fully intending to sign with basketball coach Clyde Nelson, but now he doesn't know what he'll do until he fully understands what "phased out" means and how long the program will be around. He wants to play his two years at Ricks.
"I wonder why it happened," said Chatwin, who spent some time away from the game before deciding to sign with the Vikes. "Everything was going good — and it was going good for a lot of athletes."
Ricks College athletic director Garth Hall had close to 50 messages on his desk Wednesday afternoon from individuals wanting answers to those same questions.
"This is the biggest misunderstanding that's gone out. There's a couple of press releases out right now that have indicated that we will be phased out after next year, and I think there is a lot of reaction that we won't be in the business next year. Both of those are probably incorrect," he said.
"It's a phaseout. We have various obligations and commitments to the league, other institutions, to our student-athletes that we plan on honoring and fulfilling."
The announcement caught Hall off guard just as it did the entire school — especially after the amount of success the school has had.
"I think it makes it hard because we've been a model program. I think we've have a very successful program," Hall said. "I think we've competed regionally and nationally in all of our programs. It's tough to get over."
The telephone call from Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve about the forthcoming announcement came to Ricks' administration at 4 p.m. Tuesday, and the official announcement of the switch-over was delivered early Wednesday morning.
"We're struggling mentally right now. We've just been delivered a pretty severe message, and we're going to have to deal with it," Hall said.
Although the details of how and when the phaseout will take place, the one thing Hall is confident the student athletes and coaches will be taken care of.
"We have various obligations and commitments to the league, other institutions, to our student-athletes that we play on honoring and fulfilling," he said. "We can't be asking people to come up here and participate for a year and then not know after that if they're going to have a team. We've got all those issues to resolve."
Vikings women's basketball coach Lori Woodland was also shaken by the decision. But she is searching for a silver lining.
"Initially, this morning, I was stunned. Throughout the day I have had a lot of time to contemplate the future and what this might bring. I had someone say 'Lori, you've affected so many lives and had such a positive effect on so many lives,' so maybe, now, Ricks College can have a positive effect on more lives," Woodland said.
"So, phasing out athletics is a tough pill to swallow, but, hey, we don't know what's going to come after the pill is swallowed. It might bless thousands of more lives."
Ricks College President David A. Bednar stressed the same point in a one-hour question and answer session for the students and the faculty Wednesday afternoon.
"We will honor and stand by those commitments," he said on at least two separate occasions.
"If we can fulfill our obligation that we had when we signed the letter that is, they have their scholarship and we're going to have competitive teams for the duration of their stay at Ricks College, I don't see a reason to release them. I don't think there's a justification for it."
However, Hall said if the occasion should arise that a student wants a release from his or her NJCAA national letter of intent, which binds the athlete and the school, then it will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and a release may or may not be granted.
If a release is granted, Hall said the student athlete can transfer to another school in the Western States Football League or Scenic West Athletic Conference without losing a year of eligibility. If a release isn't granted, and student athletes transfer to one of those schools, then they will lose a year of eligibility per conference and league by-laws.
However, if a student athlete chooses to go to a four-year school or a school outside the conference or league, the national letter of intent is no longer binding.
"There will be a lot of gray area. The principal is, sure, we need to work with people and do what's best for them," Hall said. "I don't want to deliver the message that it's open season out there for everybody."
Should an athlete decide to transfer, Hall said the college would do what it could for the best interest of the athlete.
With the school's intention of honoring all-ready promised scholarships and prior commitments to the Western States Football League and the Scenic West Athletic Conference, the athletic program will be functional for at least 2-3 more years.