This seems very odd and suspicious. Track and field/cross country programs throughout the country are going through a tough time due to the pandemic, and U of A is no exception. Sprinkle in some disgruntled and potentially abused athletes threatening legal action and you now have a potential "Titanic" like situation. Now the proverbial "Ship" is taking on water and is in danger of sinking and the Co-Captain is jumping overboard yelling "Good Luck, See ya in China".
Looking at Coach Li's Instagram account, it's a non-stop love fest with pics of Lagat, Lalang, Cheseret, and other Kenyans with very little acknowledgment of other U of A athletes or teams. Clearly, Li was not a successful collegiate distance coach and relied heavily on his Kenyan connections to give the "illusion" that his program was elite, in addition to riding the coat-tails of Lagat and other Kenyans to legitimize his perceived success and coaching ability. How in the world did he not produce consistent successful teams EVERY year he coached at U of A? They should have been a Pac-12 conference-NCAA distance powerhouse year in and year out. What homegrown distance athletes did he recruit and coach that went on to ANY kind of success? Conference champions? NCAA champions? U.S. National teams? Olympians? Minus team Kenya, you'll be extremely hard-pressed to name ANY. So now he bolts to China to coach marathoners? What??? I'm sorry, something stinks in the Arizona desert and it's not a dead rattlesnake.
"Go Run One"