Let's be hoenst - the kid acted like a prick and a mope all year long. Jogging back lazily on d, not meeting the guys in the huddle after play is stopped, not looking coaches in the eye during timeouts when they try to talk to him- there were multiple times (apparent even on tv) when Lavin tries to look at him to PRAISE him - not even criticize - and the kid wont look in the eyes - to which Lavin seems to say "HEY - WHAT'S WRONG??, etc. This will hurt this year, signfiicantly, but is the right move for next year. Probably long overdue and wouldn't be surprised if Lavin being absent for a week or so, and then returning with a clean perspective, allowed him to get a fresh pair of eyes on how damaging the situation was. Especially when you have 2 gret team first high energy guys who can be the leaders now and next year in Sampson and Pointer - having a diametrically opposed malcontennt will only hurt what those guys can build with the staff's help.