Author: Ryan Strong
Volleyball Coach Mike Talamantes resigned on Monday afternoon as an investigation into NCAA and SCIAC bylaw violations neared conclusion. Talamantes was hired in spring 2008. This past season, he led the volleyball team to a school record 25 wins and a second-place finish in conference.
“Coach Talamantes did an outstanding job of transforming the Occidental volleyball program: targeting talented young student-athletes; committing tireless hours to their development as individuals and as a team and connecting with the broader Occidental College volleyball community. His work will be appreciated for many years to come,” Athletics Director Jaime Hoffman said via e-mail. “That said, we will also have work to do to repair the damage of alleged violations to our reputation as a program on the rise.”
The school’s investigation should be completed soon.
“We have concluded the interview portion of the investigation. We now must determine, based on our findings, which NCAA bylaws were violated,” Hoffman said.
Despite the departure, expectations for the program remain high. Stephanie Gann won SCIAC Freshman-of-the-Year for the first time in the school’s history. First-year Madyson Cassidy and sophomore Logan Boyer-Hayes received all-conference honors along with Gann.
“We are young and extremely talented. The program’s future is very promising. We have a number of newcomers in next year’s first-year class that Mike expressed a great deal of excitement about when we learned that they had chosen Oxy. This combined with a strong nucleus of returners could be a dangerous combination in SCIAC competition,” Hoffman said.
Talamantes could not be reached for comment on the circumstances of his resignation. Volleyball players also could not be contacted.
Hoffman plans to launch a national search to fill the open position soon.
“We are excited to find a qualified replacement for Coach Talamantes as soon as the process allows. These committed student-athletes deserve to go into the summer months with as much clarity as possible. Our staff is prepared to conduct an aggressive search to provide the necessary peace of mind,” she said.
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