NY: Bob Oliva to resign at Christ the King

BY BRUCE DIAMOND and MICHAEL O'KEEFFE
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERS

Monday, January 5th 2009, 1:04 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/high_school/2009/01/04/2009-01-04_bob_oliva_to_resign_at_christ_the_king.html

Bob Oliva, the Christ the King boys' basketball coach who has been accused of sexual abuse, will resign this week from the perennial city basketball power he has led for 27 years.

Oliva has been on a leave of absence since the Queens high school's basketball team began practicing on Nov.1 because of a heart ailment he believes was aggravated by the abuse allegations. He officially will retire this week.

"I'm finished," Oliva, 64, told the the Daily News Sunday night. "I'm going to walk away from the program. It is a terrible way to go out."

In April, Oliva notified school officials that he had received a letter from a Florida law firm representing longtime family friend Jimmy Carlino. The letter, signed by attorney David R. Ristoff, accused Oliva of sexual abuse 30 years ago and demanded $750,000 and Oliva's resignation from the school. Oliva denied the allegations, and school officials said they believed he was innocent. "It never happened," Oliva said. "There is no truth to this at all."

"It's about time that he did the right thing," Carlino said. "I'm glad he won't cause any more problems for any more children."

Christ the King president Michael Michel said the school did not pressure Oliva to resign. "He's been with us many, many years - since before I got here - and it's his decision," Michel said.

Michel denied knowledge of any additional allegations and said that from his standpoint and that of the school, Oliva's status hinged strictly on his health.

"The only thing I have heard is what I have read in the newspaper," he said. "No one has come into my office and reported any new allegations."

Joe Arbitello, the Christ the King athletic director who has coached the basketball team in Oliva's absence, will take over as coach on a permanent basis. The Royals, 9-1 this season under Arbitello, defeated St. Raymond, 62-45, in a home game Sunday night.

"I was going to retire in a few years and hand the program over to Joe," Oliva said. "The program needs young blood and he's good - he's the best. The freshmen and sophomores need to know who will be their coach in the future."

Oliva has been a New York basketball fixture for nearly three decades. He said he has posted a 549-181 career record and five city championships in 27 years as the varsity coach at Christ the King. Dozens of his players graduated to Division I programs, and several - including Los Angeles Lakers star Lamar Odom and former Nets center Jayson Williams - played in the NBA.

Queens attorney Thomas Ognibene, a former city councilman who serves on Christ the King's board of trustees, said officials stood by Oliva after Carlino's allegations became public because there was no evidence of abuse. "It's one thing if you hear something credible, but after so many years, it looked like a form of sour grapes," Ognibene said. "We looked at the situation and decided it was best not to take action on something so thin. We had no reason to doubt our coach."

Ognibene said he had recently learned that there was at least one other alleged abuse victim, but "it was a rumor more than anything."

"I'm caught by surprise by this," Ognibene added. "I had not heard anything about Bob retiring."