Post by ripreilly755 on Oct 13, 2005 6:14:13 GMT -5
Yet another dark spot for team
By Tim Bontemps
Associate Editor
On our university’s Web site, it states that “We are proud to be the flagship Franciscan university. We invite you to share our tradition.” As the flagship Franciscan university, our university is founded on Franciscan values such as peace, justice and social equality.
It just is too bad the Franciscan values this university is supposed to be based upon seem to have been thrown out the window for the men’s basketball program. The mounting pile of arrests and bad decisions by its players over the past few months not only reflect poorly on the team, but on the entire university as well.
This trend continued early Sunday morning when Atlantic 10 All-Conference forward Ahmad Smith and former guard Kern Carter were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
While what allegedly happened is not as bad as some players’ past offenses, Smith should have known better. He is easily the top returning player to the team, and should be the captain this season. He needed to realize, especially as one of the team’s leaders, that he had to set an example for his team, not add to its problems.
Before this, there was the plagiarism issue involving a member of the men’s basketball team last spring, in which the university’s final decision was never released, and it seems as if the student-athlete was not punished.
Then there were Tyler Relph’s two separate alcohol-related arrests, with the second being for driving while intoxicated. Relph, a transfer from West Virginia, eventually had the charge reduced to driving while ability impaired and has been suspended from the team’s regular season-opener against Robert Morris Nov. 18.
Like it or not, the basketball program is the face of this university nationally. While we once were known only for the great exploits of past legends such as Tom and Sam Stith and Bob Lanier, we are now also known for allowing ineligible players and filling the police blotters.
At his first press conference as head coach on May 5, 2003, Anthony Solomon said he looked forward to “restoring the pride and the successful tradition of St. Bonaventure University’s basketball program.”
But how close has Solomon come to achieving either of these goals over the past two years?
On the court, his team has posted a 9-47 record – including a 2-26 mark last season, the worst single-season record in school history, and his team has never won a road game.
But on-court troubles can be explained away.
Solomon’s supporters would bring up the Jamil Terrell eligibility scandal. They would bring up how Mike Gansey, arguably the team’s best player, left before Solomon was even hired. They would bring up how Solomon has faced scholarship restrictions since arriving.
To any of his supporters, I say look at the job Scott Drew has done at Baylor University over the same period of time.
The murder of Patrick Dennehy in the summer of 2003 by former teammate Carlton Dotson makes the scandal here look tame by comparison. Baylor also lost two players (Ken Lucas III to Oklahoma State and Lawrence Roberts to Mississippi State) who became All-American candidates, leaving Drew with a roster that had only seven scholarship players for the 2003-2004 season.
However, over the last two seasons, the Bears have gone 17-40, including impressive wins at Purdue last season and at home against Iowa State during the 2003-2004 season.
Off the court, Solomon’s players have done nothing to restore the university’s pride in its basketball program. Instead, they have become an embarrassment.
It is part of the job and responsibility of being the head coach of a Division I basketball team to know what kind of players he is bringing in to his program, and once they get here to make sure that they follow the rules set forth. Lately, Solomon has failed to make his players follow these rules.
It is time for him to get his players to be the “good, young men” he is always saying they are.
ps; the entire newspaper can be accessed here:
www.sbu.edu/go/student-services/student-activities/the-bona-venture/index.htm
By Tim Bontemps
Associate Editor
On our university’s Web site, it states that “We are proud to be the flagship Franciscan university. We invite you to share our tradition.” As the flagship Franciscan university, our university is founded on Franciscan values such as peace, justice and social equality.
It just is too bad the Franciscan values this university is supposed to be based upon seem to have been thrown out the window for the men’s basketball program. The mounting pile of arrests and bad decisions by its players over the past few months not only reflect poorly on the team, but on the entire university as well.
This trend continued early Sunday morning when Atlantic 10 All-Conference forward Ahmad Smith and former guard Kern Carter were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
While what allegedly happened is not as bad as some players’ past offenses, Smith should have known better. He is easily the top returning player to the team, and should be the captain this season. He needed to realize, especially as one of the team’s leaders, that he had to set an example for his team, not add to its problems.
Before this, there was the plagiarism issue involving a member of the men’s basketball team last spring, in which the university’s final decision was never released, and it seems as if the student-athlete was not punished.
Then there were Tyler Relph’s two separate alcohol-related arrests, with the second being for driving while intoxicated. Relph, a transfer from West Virginia, eventually had the charge reduced to driving while ability impaired and has been suspended from the team’s regular season-opener against Robert Morris Nov. 18.
Like it or not, the basketball program is the face of this university nationally. While we once were known only for the great exploits of past legends such as Tom and Sam Stith and Bob Lanier, we are now also known for allowing ineligible players and filling the police blotters.
At his first press conference as head coach on May 5, 2003, Anthony Solomon said he looked forward to “restoring the pride and the successful tradition of St. Bonaventure University’s basketball program.”
But how close has Solomon come to achieving either of these goals over the past two years?
On the court, his team has posted a 9-47 record – including a 2-26 mark last season, the worst single-season record in school history, and his team has never won a road game.
But on-court troubles can be explained away.
Solomon’s supporters would bring up the Jamil Terrell eligibility scandal. They would bring up how Mike Gansey, arguably the team’s best player, left before Solomon was even hired. They would bring up how Solomon has faced scholarship restrictions since arriving.
To any of his supporters, I say look at the job Scott Drew has done at Baylor University over the same period of time.
The murder of Patrick Dennehy in the summer of 2003 by former teammate Carlton Dotson makes the scandal here look tame by comparison. Baylor also lost two players (Ken Lucas III to Oklahoma State and Lawrence Roberts to Mississippi State) who became All-American candidates, leaving Drew with a roster that had only seven scholarship players for the 2003-2004 season.
However, over the last two seasons, the Bears have gone 17-40, including impressive wins at Purdue last season and at home against Iowa State during the 2003-2004 season.
Off the court, Solomon’s players have done nothing to restore the university’s pride in its basketball program. Instead, they have become an embarrassment.
It is part of the job and responsibility of being the head coach of a Division I basketball team to know what kind of players he is bringing in to his program, and once they get here to make sure that they follow the rules set forth. Lately, Solomon has failed to make his players follow these rules.
It is time for him to get his players to be the “good, young men” he is always saying they are.
ps; the entire newspaper can be accessed here:
www.sbu.edu/go/student-services/student-activities/the-bona-venture/index.htm
