ORMA press conference today

At Oak Ridge Military Academy at 4pm today the following announcements were made in regards to the Athletic Programs:

1)Coach Stan Kowalewski has entered into a long term/30 year contract to coach boys basketball at ORMA.

2)Delaney Rudd has been named the girls basketball coach at ORMA. Delaney current operates the North Carolina Basketball Acadmey and runs the girls AAU Phoenix basketball programs. I spoke today with Delaney and he is very excited about this opportunity. I also talked with Clavon Ingram and he plans to continue and assist Delaney with this new project.

3)ORMA will not field a baseball team in 2010, but they do hope to have a baseball team on the field in 2011….

4)ORMA plans to field an 11-man football team in 2011 and the team will be coached by current Oak Ridge Military Athletic Director Otis Yelverton.

5)ORMA will scale back to only grades 7-12 for their academic programs in the fall of 2010. They are dropping the 6th grade.

6)ORMA will scale back to just grades 8-12 in the fall of 2011.

7)In the fall of 2010 there will be no more female boarding students at Oak Ridge Military Academy. The female students will be day-students only.

8)ORMA will add a post-graduate/prep academic program in the fall of 2010, but that program will not be involved with Oak Ridge Military Academy athletics……

*****These announcements were made official today at the Oak Ridge Military Academy press conference.*****

I now have the hard copy of what was said during the press conference so you can read what was stated by the ORMA top ranking military leader:
Press Conference
March 8, 2010
Oak Ridge Military Academy

Welcome to Oak Ridge Military Academy. Today we celebrate a number of initiatives in all areas of the institution: academic, student life, and athletics. Today ORMA redefines its role in academic excellence, expands its offerings to students who might otherwise not consider us as an institution of choice, and solidifies the leadership of our interscholastic athletic programs.

First, I want to announce Oak Ridge Military Academy’s plans to initiate a one-year Post Graduate Academic Program. This is a program of study for students who have graduated, but who wish to improve their grades in high school courses and want to begin taking college courses on our campus in our structured environment. These courses will be taught by credentialed college faculty and will be for college credit.

Upon completion of the one-year program, students will receive an Advanced College Preparatory Diploma and a transcript from the college where the instruction was received. We will be applying for accreditation for this program later this Spring.

Second, we will discontinue our Sixth Grade program effective August 2010. Due to continued low enrollment at this grade level, we will no longer accept students for the sixth grade level beginning this Fall.

Third, we will discontinue our Seventh Grade program effective August 2011. Again, low enrollment considerations were paramount in our decision to no longer accept students for the seventh grade level beginning Fall, 2011.

Our next announcement is a change to our Boarding/ Day Student policies. As of Fall 2010, Oak Ridge Military Academy will no longer accept female boarding students. There is one exception, all rising senior female cadets, who are currently boarding as juniors, will continue to board and complete their senior year as a resident student. In addition to this change, all female students may elect to either stay in the Corps of Cadets or “opt out” and participate in a Female Leadership Program instead. All female students will still be able to participate in our Junior ROTC program. We believe these changes will allow us to broaden our Student Life opportunities for all of our students.

Our next two announcements concern our athletic programs which play such an important part of student life and the relationship between an institution and its community.

Today, I am pleased to announce a long-term contract between Oak Ridge Military Academy and its Head Coach of the men’s varsity basketball team, Mr. Stan Kowalewski. As head basketball coach this year, Stan has developed a team that has represented this institution with distinction. His dedication to his players, their training and education, their work ethic and passion, is extraordinary. His belief in all that this institution provides to its students, faculty and staff, and community is strong. His desire to represent the institution for the next several years has led to the signing of a contract that ensures he will be our coach for years to come. We are proud to have him as our men’s head basketball coach and look forward to a lasting relationship that brings together quality students, quality education, and athletic success.

Our final announcement is to name our new women’s head basketball coach, Mr. Delaney Rudd. Delaney is a well known athletic celebrity in our area for his time as a student athlete at Wake Forest. His work recently in the community as an advocate for quality women’s basketball programs is not only commendable but was the impetus for our seeking him out to head our women’s basketball program. Delaney is a winner and knows how to develop winners. We look forward to his bringing that attitude and performance to our institution.

Biographical Brief
Mr. Delaney Rudd

Edward Delaney Rudd

Born Nov. 8, 1962 – Hollister NC

Eastman High School

Played at WFU 1981-85 – Sociology Major

Drafted to NBA by Utah Jazz in 85

Played In Greece until 89 then resigned by Utah

Played for Portland Trailblazers

Played In Lyon France ASVEL from 93-99. MVP Of French League 3 times. Played in Final 4 of the Euroleague Championship 97.

Retired in 99. Started Phoenix Basketball Program in 2000 and now have over 60 teams in organization across the country.

District Director for United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA Basketball) National Board Member
President Phoenix Basketball and Dreams In Motion Sports
Owner Action Promotions and Apparel – Reidsville NC (Embroidery Company & Apparel)
Owner North Carolina Basketball Academy – Greensboro Sportsplex

51 thoughts on “ORMA press conference today

  1. lol – a thirty year contract.

    If he really had faith in himself he would have made it 50 years.

  2. These guys are a joke! After all the crap they stirred up over @ Northern why would anyone want them coaching their teams!

  3. ORMA is on its way to being a national powerhouse in both men and women basketball. This is a really good look for making NC a more recognized state for basketball. .

  4. Once again, a blatant example of “look at me”, “look what I am doing for kids”! The real newsmakers are the professionals who have committed their careers to making a difference in kids lives through education and athletics. Notice the order I put that in! Education comes before athletics, no matter what society says or displays. And being a private school is not an excuse/argument for being the way they are. To make it worse, parents are spending their hard earned money (flushing it down the toilet) on a pipe dream that will ultimately not be there. And I am all about giving my kids the best opportunity, so ORMA look at a GDS or a HP Wesleyan as an example of a top notch private school. So glad I have an advanced degree on this subject!

  5. Delaney Rudd girls team is getting ready to kick butt BIG TIME! They will have all sorts of players that will compete nationally. Orma will have a pipe line so deep that no one will be able to touch them. Kids will more than likely transfer or come through the Phoenix organization from all over. Its a private school and there is nothing that any local or coach from afar can do.

  6. ORMA president McKnight’s profile from the internet says he was a retired army officer. He must not have been an infantry officer, because he did not understand that he has been “outflanked”. This is an unbelievable turn of events for sure.
    At least they won’t have to look very hard to find the weapons of mass destruction here, or should I say weapons of self destruction. LOL!!!!!

  7. What is messed up is how he says that people are tired of mediocracy. Basically, what he is doing is calling out and making a joke of every single coach in the area. I do not like this statement. He may be a good coach, but this is cocky and arrogant. I don’t mind confidence, but this guy has no class what so ever. Give anyone the dream team that he had at ORMA, and I’m sure they could have won a state title with them.

    He proves nothing to me what so ever, other than the fact that he can recruit (which he has acknowledged that he can now do and will do being at ORMA) and throw money around these players. The facts is that the players will travel. They will have more face time with college recruiters, so I personally believe that ORMA soon can become a powerhouse; however, it has nothing to do with his coaching ability. If he really wants to prove something, then go to damn school with a losing record and don’t recruit players and then win. That is when I’d stand up and say this guy is a good coach, but don’t give me this B.S. about him being a good coach when he has all-star players on his team. You people are stupid to think that any other coach couldn’t win with those players.

    Face time, publicity, and competition, well, these are the positives and ORMA will be able to produce that. So, good luck kids. I can’t wait until it gets to be too many kids and he has to start turning them down and then the parents get irate about it. I do wonder what kind of problems a rejected kids’ parents could cause.

  8. Local High Schools will still have to agree to play your recruiting Private school ORMA FAN!!! What if all of the Guilford County & Forsyth County teams get together and decide to not Play you guys anymore because you are trying to steal the best players in the area!!!

  9. Guilford County public schools athletics are now finished with this announcement. GCS teams will have no chance to ever win state championships again. Thanks Mo Green and Jill Wilson! Anyone who badmouthes ORMA is just jealous of what they are about to become.

  10. I was so overwhelmed with emotion when I read the ORMA press release I had to stop
    and get a kleenex. After I gaithered my self and continued to read on what a butch of BS. The circus continues and now there are more clowns involved than ever.
    ORMA will not even be around in 30yrs, The football team will never happen
    and sports will not be the answer to the problem. No I am not jealous just being realalistic. These guys are want are legends in their own minds and a few people are
    believing the bull. But for most of us we’ve heard it all before.
    Let me get another kleenex.

  11. Can some one please tell me about the academic program at this school. The athletic programs sound promising but at the price I saw on there web site I want to know,”Is the education worth the cost?”

  12. I think right now we need to take a wait and see attitude on Oak Ridge and give the men/coaches a chance to establish their programs.

    It won’t be easy, but it’s never easy to build a program from scratch and that is pretty much what they will have to do in girls basketball and in football.

    Oak Ridge Military Academy has been around for many years and let’s hope it remains for many more to come…..

  13. Well about the academics there has been 99 percent college placement since 2000. So that speaks for itself.

  14. To Andy,
    Andy I love how you are always looking at the good of things and not catching emotions so on that i applaud you, seriously.

    Oak Ridge is a private school, and the coach is trying to make it a national team, if that means stealing them from high schools to do so, then so be it. The students wouldnt have a problem with exposure.

  15. This is just like the end of an era @ northern—the only issue here is that the era will lst 30 years! LOL—This will fall apart as soon as ORMA figures out that they are not in charge of their own school—maybe he should get a black blazer this time and make his coaches werar red blazers! LMAO.

  16. Leave it to “Coach Kon” and his men to get things rolling again. He is the anti Robin Hood–he takes from the poor and gives to the rich!

  17. JoJo… No one was asking about the dunk contest
    I think the question was about academics .
    All I can figure is ORMA is desperate and they will do anything I mean anything
    to survive. I wish them the best, however these guys all come with lots of baggage.

    Andy, Did you say build a team from scratch , it’s real easy when you bring your team in with you when you come just as Coach K did, and Coach O will do the same
    these guys have never built anything from scratch that’s the problem.

    They build teams from others hard work and make promises they can’t keep
    just ask the players from NG.

  18. I think with the football and girls basketball you would be better served to build the programs from scratch and make sure you put together a 4-5 or 5-10 year plan.

    Coach K is like BK, he did it his way, but some day he will have to build again from the bottom up at ORMA….

    I think you can appreciate it more when you build from scratch and like the Eye of the Tiger, when you have went the distance, you have to sometimes turn around and go back and start from the bottom up and I think that hits all coaches at one time or another..

    Look at Roy Williams at North Carolina…..He will have to get the Eye of the Tiger back or he will feel the wrath of the Tigers from somewhere in the tournament. Maybe it’s Missouri in the NIT, I don’t know, just an example….

    Coach Mike K had to get the Eye of the Tiger again, when he left the Duke program in Pete Gaudet’s lap and would not lay claim for the losses from that year….Mike did not like what was happening…Duke has it back now and like we all know it is tough to stay on top and Coach Stan K will have a day or year or two when he has to go out and beat the proverbial bushes…..

    Good discussion and I’m glad I could help or come up with the lack of necessary material as it applies to this case.

    I thought the Roy Williams and Coach Mike K examples were credible, but not incredible for this discussion….

    Anybody seen Balboa??????

  19. Why is that these people have nothing else to do but HATE . Have you ever given a second to think that maybe if you HATERS would be happy about something, than maybe something good would come your way. BE HAPPY FOR THE KIDS WHO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY!!!! Guess what maybe the kids who are going to ORMA will give your child a chance to stand out at their school because the kids at ORMA wont be at their school. Grow up and worry about a REAL PROBLEM!!!!

  20. It was reported earlier that Coach Yelverton would be going to Cal. to take a postion with the football team. Rumor has it He will be Cal’s recruiter here on the East Coast along
    with recruiting for The football team at ORMA. Anyone have nay info on this?

  21. Looks like Coach O will be staying at ORMA.

    He is putting together a football team for the Academy.

    Coach O is the AD and head football coach at ORMA.

  22. I have heard for a while that Delaney was headed to ORMA. I think that is a positive move in the long run for the school. However, with them not having dorms for girls anymore, not sure how they are going to be able to recruit the same way. A couple of observations and questions.

    1- How long before Oak Ridge Military Academy drops the Military and becomes just Oak Ridge? Looks like they are starting that direction by not making the girls participate.

    2- Are they looking to be Oak Hill or are they looking to be like Hargrave or Fork Union? Would people be less upset if they recruited players from other areas? Is it better to take those players? My thing is that ORMA isn’t for everyone, but is probably good for some.

    3- Does Stan have a buyout in that 30 year contract? What a joke!!! He has to be the most arrogant and out of touch with reality guy I have ever seen. I mean 30 years. It is so outrageous that it overshadows the smart things that were in the rest of the article. This guy just never ceases to amaze me.

    4- I would agree that we can’t put Stan on a pedestal as a coach. He obviously has the gift of gab and can fool people into believing everything he says. I remember seeing a letter he wrote college coaches when he was at HP Central stating he had 7 D1 players. 7!!! Now if you have 7 D1 players at a public school how do you ever lose a game? Just curious!!

    5- I wish success to the school that is ORMA, I would like to see them go the prep school route. I think it would be the right fit for Stan and the school as far as their basketball and football programs go. Would be great to bring in players from all over that are really talented. I think we would all support that venture.

  23. I think the 30 years may not be relevant and it was just a number that was thrown out there for discussionary purposes.

    I think the phrase long-term contract can be applied in more relevant terms to this current development….

    A working agreement/contract of 30 years would be great for a first-year teacher or coach and that way if they had that agreement in writing they would have job security until it was time for retirement.(Othewise they would have to buy out your contract, unless there were grounds for dismissal.)

    Most coaching contracts if not all contracts for coaching at the public schools are set up on a year-to-year basis…..For the teaching positions I would assume the terms would be similar, but for a longer period of time, say maybe a five-year teaching contract which would be reviewable at the Guiford County Schools discretion.

    Maybe others that are teachers would know more, but again the positions we are speakking of at ORMA are for coaching……

  24. Emotions I know no one asked for me to put the videos up. But this post is about ORMA so why not? Everyone is not a hater like you.

  25. Andy I think I missed the anouncement they made about you being the new public relations man for ORMA, or it sure sounds like you are.

  26. Question???,

    On another post you asked the same dumb question, why are you so concern about Coach O and a job at Cal. Did the girls basketball coach at Dudley leave to get a college job? Yes she did. You people in Guilford County need to get a life, High School coaches all over this great country leave the high school ranks for the college dream.

  27. The Oak Ridge situation is much larger than any local high school concerns. Oak Ridge will get some of the best boys & girls from the area to play for them but their new program will reach far beyond the borders of Guilford Co similar to Oak Hill. In fact, you could make an argument that Oak Ridge may be a better long term fit for a lot of kids than an Oak Hill when you consider that Oak Ridge has a long history as a school, a very high college placement rate, closer to many colleges and its is located in a more urban area than its competition.

    The players will absolutely have a better opportunity than nearly any public high school can offer them. Now you can play 30-40 games against good to great competition instead of 70% of your games against poorly prepared talent. Most local boys & girls teams only have 1-2 D1 players but Oak Ridge will soon have 5-8+ D1 level players.

    If Guilford Co was seriously concerned with these issues, then they should allow student/atheletes to attend the school of their choice if room is available and they qualify just like Forsyth and Meckenburg Co’s allow. The D1 players in Guilford Co are not going to sit back and take their chances on a poor high point coach and teammates that are not prepared to play at a high level.

  28. coach k and friends,
    i am looking forward to this game tonight. not ure how good it will be, though. i will be wearing a blue and white striped shirt. you will need to determine what shade od blue, how wide the stripes are, and what type of shirt. if you offer a prize to anyone with a blue and white striped shirt, i may even claim it if it’s something i want. it’s possible i will be wearing a jacket, so you will need to be very observant—i can’t make it too easy for someone as smrt as you.
    see you tonight!!!!!!!
    dale
    ps. will i be across from you or behind you? i may slip in late, since i have a 5:30 meeting that may go long. see you no later than halftime.
    i wouldn’t miss it for the world. after all, it’s the 1st home game since you so graciously accepted the 30-year extension to your contract.

  29. Anyone that has watched a lot of high school basketball over the past couple of years can obviously see that the most talented basketball players are going 1 of 2 directions as a whole. Many high level players are either moving to public high schools that have other D1 level players or transferring to private schools. Schools such as Northern and Dudley will have to continue to utility its IB and acedemy programs to keep its talent pool high. There are a lot of talented Guilford Co boys & girls in the 6-8 grades that will never play for a public high school because the private schools such as GDS, Ravencroft, Charlotte Latin or Christain, Forsyth Country Day and eventually Oak Ridge will get them hooked between now and their 10th grade year.

    High level players want to play with the best talent available. Parents of level players do not want to waste their kids talent over a school that does not see their kids talents as a top propriety. These high level players generally have had their educational responsibilities set for a # of years thus as long as the school has high standards in the classroom, then their coach and teammates are a huge issue to address. Why should a high level player waste their time playing with below average players? Do you think Wake Forest or Duke players are spending their off season time playing basketball with YMCA leagues? The answer is no!! The reality is that being on the A/B honor is not enough to secure a 4 year pass into a great college. You need to have something beyond just grade. These private schools are giving these kids the opportunity to show colleges the added value that they can being to their school (similar to what the AAU programs provide for these players).

    Oak Ridge will be successful because this is the direction that sports is headed. Guilford Co is behind the times and will continue to lose its top players unless their adopt rules similar to Forsyth and Meckenburg Counties. These type of kids (boys & girls) have been playing AAU basketball with the best competition since they were 8 and 9 years old. Why would they want to play with YMCA level basketball players when they are 15, 16 and 17 years old? If the rules don’t change, then private schools will reign.

  30. Delaney Rudd obviously has good standing in this community because all of the attacks since this story broke have been directly back to Oak Ridge or Stan. This point does not seem to have been discussed but just consider have valuable these moves could be for the entire triad community. Oak Ridge will get its share of local players just as GDS has done for a number of years but they will go way beyond our view of high point sports. They could potential bring kids from anywhere in the country to Guilford Co simply because its located in a better area than say an Oak Hill which is in the middle of “no where”. Also consider that Delaney Rudd was the first American player to have his # retired in the European leagues, he was a former agent for many players, and he likely knows and has contacts with more foreign players than nearly anyone in the entire U.S.A. Guilford Co and the US are not the only places in the world that play good basketball. Delaney may open Guilford County’s eyes to the “world” in basketball. This Oak Ridge deal should be great for all of us in the larger picture of the communtiy. Good luck Oak Ridge!!

  31. I agree that the private school/AAU trend is in full force. You do have to remember that only about 8 players get substantial time for a team. There will be plenty of good kids available for the public schools. I am more concerned with the quality of basketball that is being taught. I see great athletes out there with a deficiency in fundamentals. It doesn’t show up at the high school level, but it really shows up at the next level. Look at UNC. It is painful to watch them. Great athletes who can’t play team defense, can’t make crisp passes, 20 turnovers a game, but they can dunk in transition. If you choose the private school/AAU route, make sure you get a coach who is teaching the game correctly.

  32. Sorry for the brief delay in recent posts/comments ladies and gentlemen, but I had to go get one of those RIP-IT Energy drinks to carry us into the afternoon….

    Kinda like being at the college radio station and you put on the long play record so you can hit the men’s room or you slip in the cassette interview of Larry King talking to Mahareeshe Yoga from 1977 so you can run upstairs at the station and check your mailbox, and then the slams closed and locked behind you…..

    You are locked and loaded.

  33. I think Delaney going to ORMA is good for girls basketball in Guilford Co/Triad. It will add one more competetive team to the area. Its about time that the girls started get the attention that the boys have for so long ie: Dudley,GDS,Westchester now ORMA. I hear he is taking his AAU elite staff Ingram, Hines and Odom with him to ORMA. Who will take control of the Lady Phoenix Elite program?

  34. Delaney said on Monday that he would continue to operate the North Carolina Basketball Academy and the Phoenix programs…..

  35. Delaney still has 2 daugthers playing with his Lady Phoenix so he would not be leaving his year round girls program for a 4 month venture. Plus, the girls that come to play for him at Oak Ridge could go and continue to play for him or one of his coaches over at the Phoenix program which already has most of the best players from the triad and a good number of the best players out of Charlotte and Raleigh. The Lady Phoenix organization is clearly one of the top girls basketball groups in the mid atlantic region and they dominate this area.

  36. Anyone want to guess who “The Future May be Private” really is ?
    Here’s a clue she is Coach K’s biggest fan and I mean biggest.
    Good Luck guessing.

  37. You may be right, but we have never received this much info from a private school before and they a good job of getting the info and their message across.

    We have also known a number of their coaches over the years and you have to give them credit, they are agressive….

    We have covered Greensboro Day basketball in detail over the years, but mostly with extensive game coverage.

  38. “She’s Back” – you are completely off base and I have no idea who Coach K’s biggest fan may be. The posting was from a man that does not even know Coach K and has never stepped a foot onto the Oak Ridge campus. I hope Oak Ridge succeeds with flying colors because we all will benefit significantly. I actually hope this puts some pressure on GDS to add value to its boys and especially its girls programs. The GDS boys appear to be hitting a wall with its players and the girls need a better pipeline of basketball talent and coaches. The Charlotte area has a lot of private schools functioning at a high level in basketball so there is no reason our area cannot do the same between Forsyth & Guilford Co.

  39. I see a lot of coach K supporters say what a great coach he is. Maybe, but just once I’d like to see him coach a team made up of the kids that just show up, like everyone else does. As far as Foootball at ORMA goes Coach O has a lot of fans, no doubt, but now he has to make the calls, something he’s never done. Being a head coach involves more than parading around town with the best players. I also will be interested in seeing if he will continue to publicly criticize the head coach, as he has done at all his previous stops in Guilford County, oh wait that won’t work. I’ll be watching with great interest.

  40. Topfin,

    I believe you must be a coach(wife) in Guilford County, Can you tell me when has Coach O publicly criticize any Head Coach. Do you mean the same coaches that cry that the parents of their players get in touch with him an ask him for his help. Who knows what kind of Head Coach he will be, could win alot or lose alot but one thing is for sure is that the kids will be taken care of.

  41. he is an ok coach at best. the real coaching and analytical work is really done by the white-haired coach who is an old friend. from what i have heard in the past, he runs the practices, etc.. i’ve never talked to him, but i understand that he can dissect the game with the best of them. i don’t think there is much of a contribution from the members of the staff except for the former orma coach who is also pretty knowledgable.

  42. All I can say about TopFin is, he or she is the #1 fin and we leave all that at that, and as in most cases, it is what it is…..

    All is good on the Eastern front in Downtown Greensboro and let’s try and make something solid happen today throughout the county….

  43. Alonzo I am neither just a lieflong resident here who listens when people talk. For all the comments both positive and negative about him now there will be no more excuses. By his own words his phone is ringing off the hook. A lot of people will be watching. And by taking care of kids does that include “mentoring” them into ineligibilty? Just wondering and I will be watching!

  44. Coach O seems to have changed jobs like most people change underwear .
    From Charlotte to Grimsley to Page to Northern and now ORMA.

    How long will he stay at ORMA, didn’t see where he got a 30 yr contract.

  45. Bubba Green, I swear he looks like Bubba on Forest Gump, caused this. This could have all been avoided. Maybe in the next election we can change the school board and clean house in the ridiculous and overpaid area superintendents. Northern will still be a power house in other sports.

  46. Andy,

    That is messed up that you didnt post my comments. You allow people to say negative things about Coach O and Coach K but when I compare other coaches you dont post it. If you dont want people to correct people when they say incorrect things, then dont let anyone say anything then. You are not God let everyone know the truth, maybe you are just like Guilford County School you only want the public to know one side. This will be my last post on your site, because I post my real name and I am not hiding like alot of your poster. Thanks for keeping the truth hidden.

  47. There are quite a few comments that never make it up here and many that have to be edited.

    I am happy that you as an educated readership, don’t have to see or deal with all of these.

    The ones that don’t get up here, I see them and they can be harsh.

    You’ll thank me in the long run and I will continue to serve my country and my county…..

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