Why is the tone changing so drastically on this thread? I want him. He fills an immediate need, preserves a scholarship for '17, and makes us more competitive next season. He gives the coaching staff options and helps in certain matchups. His coming on does not impede the growth and development of Sima, Yakwe, or Owens. In fact, he frees them up to play to their strengths.
There is no downside to signing him except for the possible blowback from a PR standpoint.
There's also the whole losing our principles and values. Some would call that a "downside".
Sometimes people think about how their life is going, look at DLo (i know he didn't punch a cop.), was always angry, but then he changedafter Lavin sent him home.
People do change sometimes. I'd take him for a year.
Second chances are different from "awards".
A scholarship is an award.
Also ... personal issues whether they be anger or drug use, often lead to run in with authorities. Whether it be teachers coaches or police.
But there is no way to logically compare D'Angelo Harrisons demonstrativeness, or even the rumors about him getting in Hines's face at practice... with a felony charge.
And I do agree that Mullin generally wants to do the right thing, he isn't looking to pick a fight with the administration, and he is self-assured enough not to think he NEEDS this one recruit or the walls will fall in.
That's the only reason I say I could take it or leave it .... bc Mullin seems ok with Livingston. That does mean something.
I don't like to get serious, but this is a shockingly close-minded post out of you. This incident went down at a mental health facility not a frat party or club. He was presumably seeking treatment. You don't know what he was dealing with or how much control he had over his actions at that time. His size alone can make a pussy cop elevate a fairly routine situation into something like this out of fear. I doubt a 100-pound sorority chick gets the same result.
Marillac, I understand the mental health aspect to this. And it's not at all uncommon. I represent criminal defendants all the time, the vast majority of whom suffer from scizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, or some inter related ailment.
I fully believe in giving these guys (and gals) a second chance. And I go to work every day with a spiel in the back of my head regarding that client's ties to the community, his family situation, the isolated nature of the offense, his remorse etc.
But a second chance from the justice system is different than awarding someone a scholarship.
Fun is right to point out the new testaments teachings on acceptance and redemption.
But helping a person is likewise very different from selecting them for an elite position.
Violent crimes are (rightfully) treated much differently than perceived self-inflicted acts like drug abuse, or even larceny which can be repaid and the owner made whole again.
We punish violence against authority figures more severely because we need to ensure society can function. Hitting your neighbor is bad, but hitting a cop (or fireman, bus driver, train conductor etc) is worse because you are interfering with his ability to protect everyone else and provide a necessary service. In effect, you're hurting the whole city.
I would have been against Lavin doing this, as I was when he brought Artis in for a visit, and even the recruitment of Keith Thomas.
But at least in the case of Thomas he had put several years between himself and the incident. Livingstons transgression is relatively fresh.
The primary mission of SJU is not to entertain us on the basketball court. We shouldn't give out scholarships unless the athlete achieves a certain minimum level of civility and morality.
Same as they must meet minimum education requirements.