Editorial View: Connecticut
I will preface this editorial by saying I have a lot of respect for Connecticut Head Coach Jim Calhoun and the program he runs at the school. I have always admired his intense passion for winning and his willingness to speak his mind. I love watching him instill that same passion for winning into his team and how he molds those players to play the style he demands. He is a demanding coach that uses discipline and intensity to get through to his players and there is no grey area of what is expected of them on the floor.
With all that said, I have to say, I am a little disappointed in some of his public statements regarding two of his players, AJ Price and Marcus Williams, who have been accused of allegedly stealing laptops from campus dorm rooms and trying to sell them at a local pawn shop. Well, by now, we all know the charges that have been brought forth against AJ Price and Marcus Williams and the details of their arrest, so, I will try not to rehash all the old details we all already know.
Jim Calhoun has publicly come forward stating he would like to have the opportunity to set the punishment for these players. In fact, he actually came across begging as he stated his case to the New London Day newspaper:
“I want to be able to have the opportunity to discipline them and to bring them back and get them on track so they can understand fully that they are responsible for their actions, etc. I feel I can do this if the university grants me that right and the court system grants me that right.
“The court system, based upon precedent, will probably give me that opportunity and now I'm going to ask — to beg — the university to grant me the opportunity to discipline them and bring them back.”
In my opinion, Coach Calhoun should get third crack at these guys in the order of command in their punishment. First and foremost, they should go through the proper legal proceedings as any criminal case should follow. We have already seen Marcus Williams apply for a special state of Connectict probation program, called accelerated rehabilitation. If he completes all the requirments of the probation and stays out of additional trouble in the timeframe of the program, the charges would be dismissed. First time offenders of "non-serious" crimes are eligible to apply for accelerated rehabilitation, in Connectucut, Class D felonies, which are the most serious charges against Price and Williams, are eligible for the program.
Read rest of my editorial...click below!
However, this is not the first time Williams has let down his teammates. As a freshmen, Coach Calhoun suspended Williams for most of his freshmen campaign from the team for not taking his academics seriously enough. Williams was expected to be a key back-up on a championship contending ball club, but Coach Calhoun was forced to sit him down due to his efforts in the classroom early on in his Connecticut career. The Huskies went on to win the national title, but, apparently, Coach Calhoun was not fully able to make Williams understand that he is fully responsible for his actions, like he is asking to be be allowed to do again.
Price is an even more compelling case. His health issues as a freshmen, which are still keeping him from being medically cleared to play basketball for UConn, have been well documented, but he has also had his past issues off the court. In high school, Price missed several games for being suspended from school, for nearly 6 weeks, for his role in a fight outside of Amityville High School. It also has come out recently that he was arrested and charged with criminal mischief and criminal trespass, both misdemeanors, after a party in an abandoned house near his hometown of Massapequa, N.Y. This case is still "open" in New York and has not affected his criminal record, meaning he is still eligible to apply for accelerated rehabilitation, but, at this time, Price has not applied and entered a "not-guilty" plea in court.
Now, even before their legal matters are likley to be settled, the players both must face student hearings with the University of Connecticut community. This is where things get a little tricky. I think everyone can look back upon their collge life and remember on-campus incidents where students faced expulsion. Allegedly being involved in stealing $11,000 worth of laptops from dorm rooms of other students and trying to sell them at a pawn shop, for the average student, most likely would equal expulsion, am I right? "It's considered serious by me. I don't think it's punishable by expulsion," Calhoun told the Connecticut Post earlier. Calhoun went on to play the original actions off as a prank, "It was more horseplay than anything else, fooling around," Calhoun said. "(Former UConn guard) Ryan Thompson told me there were three computers one day in his room. The next day they were gone. They (Williams and Price) had nothing to do with those computers, by the way." Seems like a little bit of a stretch, according to text messages the police have as evidence, AJ Price being charges with lying to police and the attempts by Williams and Price to sell the computers at a local pawn shop, to be attempted to be played off as "horseplay".
After the University Hearing takes place and the review board renders their decision on their punishment, then, by all means, Coach Calhoun can have his crack with the players. Afterall, they are members of society first and the University of Connecticut community second and part of the basketball program third. The rules and laws of Connecticut and the University should be dealt with first and second, before any basketball related punishments are handed down by Coach Calhoun.
Again, I have a lot of respect for Coach Calhoun and the program he has built at Connecticut and the way he has done it with his players. He has always been one to speak his mind, but this time, I think he has opened himself up to a lot of crticism and second-guessing on how the process will play out for Marcus Williams and AJ Price. His statements could definitely be interpreted as someone looking out for only his best interests and those of the other members of his basketball program. Knowing the person that Coach Calhoun has always been, that does not seem to be consistent with him as a person or a coach. I think he would have been much better off in this scenario just letting the process play out and then speak when it was his turn in the case. He has left himself open to a lot of people to come in and look for the University to come down hard on the players to make sure they are not perceived to give in to the pressures of their basketball program. In my opinion, some of his comments on the situation have put those ahead of him in the decision-making process in a very difficult spot.
With all that said, I have to say, I am a little disappointed in some of his public statements regarding two of his players, AJ Price and Marcus Williams, who have been accused of allegedly stealing laptops from campus dorm rooms and trying to sell them at a local pawn shop. Well, by now, we all know the charges that have been brought forth against AJ Price and Marcus Williams and the details of their arrest, so, I will try not to rehash all the old details we all already know.
Jim Calhoun has publicly come forward stating he would like to have the opportunity to set the punishment for these players. In fact, he actually came across begging as he stated his case to the New London Day newspaper:
“I want to be able to have the opportunity to discipline them and to bring them back and get them on track so they can understand fully that they are responsible for their actions, etc. I feel I can do this if the university grants me that right and the court system grants me that right.
“The court system, based upon precedent, will probably give me that opportunity and now I'm going to ask — to beg — the university to grant me the opportunity to discipline them and bring them back.”
In my opinion, Coach Calhoun should get third crack at these guys in the order of command in their punishment. First and foremost, they should go through the proper legal proceedings as any criminal case should follow. We have already seen Marcus Williams apply for a special state of Connectict probation program, called accelerated rehabilitation. If he completes all the requirments of the probation and stays out of additional trouble in the timeframe of the program, the charges would be dismissed. First time offenders of "non-serious" crimes are eligible to apply for accelerated rehabilitation, in Connectucut, Class D felonies, which are the most serious charges against Price and Williams, are eligible for the program.
Read rest of my editorial...click below!
However, this is not the first time Williams has let down his teammates. As a freshmen, Coach Calhoun suspended Williams for most of his freshmen campaign from the team for not taking his academics seriously enough. Williams was expected to be a key back-up on a championship contending ball club, but Coach Calhoun was forced to sit him down due to his efforts in the classroom early on in his Connecticut career. The Huskies went on to win the national title, but, apparently, Coach Calhoun was not fully able to make Williams understand that he is fully responsible for his actions, like he is asking to be be allowed to do again.
Price is an even more compelling case. His health issues as a freshmen, which are still keeping him from being medically cleared to play basketball for UConn, have been well documented, but he has also had his past issues off the court. In high school, Price missed several games for being suspended from school, for nearly 6 weeks, for his role in a fight outside of Amityville High School. It also has come out recently that he was arrested and charged with criminal mischief and criminal trespass, both misdemeanors, after a party in an abandoned house near his hometown of Massapequa, N.Y. This case is still "open" in New York and has not affected his criminal record, meaning he is still eligible to apply for accelerated rehabilitation, but, at this time, Price has not applied and entered a "not-guilty" plea in court.
Now, even before their legal matters are likley to be settled, the players both must face student hearings with the University of Connecticut community. This is where things get a little tricky. I think everyone can look back upon their collge life and remember on-campus incidents where students faced expulsion. Allegedly being involved in stealing $11,000 worth of laptops from dorm rooms of other students and trying to sell them at a pawn shop, for the average student, most likely would equal expulsion, am I right? "It's considered serious by me. I don't think it's punishable by expulsion," Calhoun told the Connecticut Post earlier. Calhoun went on to play the original actions off as a prank, "It was more horseplay than anything else, fooling around," Calhoun said. "(Former UConn guard) Ryan Thompson told me there were three computers one day in his room. The next day they were gone. They (Williams and Price) had nothing to do with those computers, by the way." Seems like a little bit of a stretch, according to text messages the police have as evidence, AJ Price being charges with lying to police and the attempts by Williams and Price to sell the computers at a local pawn shop, to be attempted to be played off as "horseplay".
After the University Hearing takes place and the review board renders their decision on their punishment, then, by all means, Coach Calhoun can have his crack with the players. Afterall, they are members of society first and the University of Connecticut community second and part of the basketball program third. The rules and laws of Connecticut and the University should be dealt with first and second, before any basketball related punishments are handed down by Coach Calhoun.
Again, I have a lot of respect for Coach Calhoun and the program he has built at Connecticut and the way he has done it with his players. He has always been one to speak his mind, but this time, I think he has opened himself up to a lot of crticism and second-guessing on how the process will play out for Marcus Williams and AJ Price. His statements could definitely be interpreted as someone looking out for only his best interests and those of the other members of his basketball program. Knowing the person that Coach Calhoun has always been, that does not seem to be consistent with him as a person or a coach. I think he would have been much better off in this scenario just letting the process play out and then speak when it was his turn in the case. He has left himself open to a lot of people to come in and look for the University to come down hard on the players to make sure they are not perceived to give in to the pressures of their basketball program. In my opinion, some of his comments on the situation have put those ahead of him in the decision-making process in a very difficult spot.
posted by NBE Blogger @ 4:00 PM
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