Harrison suspended rest of the year

Peacock today (Sanchez) feather duster tomorow (Harrison). This situation seems to have ignited a civil war on the boards. Think I will be like Canada or Sweden and just stay neutral.    But most say Choz and Kob seem to have brought the most wisdom to the situation.

If Harrison wants to come back, assuming he grows up, I have no doubt he'll be back.

That may be a big assumption.  This isnt his first suspension and he didnt get the message the first time. 

If he gets the message this time, it's a no brainer to have him back.

Quote from: desco80 on March 01, 2013, 12:33:51 PM

I have a hard time finding any reason to fault coach Lavin over this.

Really? Lavin is supposed to be a teacher. At best he failed to teach Harrison to act like a gentleman and to follow the rules. All those stupid head games he played - benching him, sitting him, challenging him - none of them worked. They didn't work because they were cheap lame stupid shoddy grandstanding. Assuming that Lavin was smart enough to see that there was an issue, and to diagnose it, the treatment failed. The patient's dead.

It may be that Harrison is a sociopath. If so Lavin deserves blame for recruiting him. Maybe Harrison is merely incorrigible. If so, Lavin deserves blame for not civilizing him. Lavin is allegedly the adult in the room. There's more than enough blame to go around.

My initial comment was overly broad.  There are areas I can see where coach might deserve some blame.  I don't subscribe to all the critiques necessarily, but reasonable people can disagree.   I can see why some would blame him for recruiting Harrison, to some degree a coach should almost be strictly liable for the players he brings in.   I also don't think its unreasonable to ask how coach could name him a captain if they've "butted heads since the day he walked on to campus".  That seems a little inconsistent, especially when you then had to partially bench him coming right out of the gate.   I doubt he started fall practice as a model citizen but by the first scrimmage needed a lesson already.   

What I don't fault coach for is the so called treatment he dispensed.   Without knowing anything more, it appears coach tried several different prescriptions: he suspended him for meaningless games, while at other times tried to build him up and encourage Harrison to channel his energy into being a leader.   You could say those actions are contradictory, and they may be, but its evidence he was at least trying something.   To me it would be far worse if coach had either ignored the problem or kicked him out right away without trying to guide the kid a little.   
The fact that his methods didn't work, but he tried different things, puts the onus on Harrison in my eyes.   Could coach have handled it differently?  Maybe, but Lavin seems to have made a good faith effort.   And without knowing more, I don't think the same could be said for Harrison.   He hasn't done anything to capitulate.

...   Like almost all of the justified knocks on Lavin, it looks like he's  adjusted and responded.   (Not active enuf on the recruiting trail, inexperienced/underqualified assistants, no veteren advisors, too friendly with players/not disciplinarian enuf).

Today isn't a day to pile on coach, but I don't think items 1 and 2 on your list are as clearly identified and resolved as you suggest.
Reasonable people have been complaining about those exact problems recently.     

player reactions;


The players were informed of the decision around 4:00 p.m. yesterday shortly before hearing of senior Orlando Sanchez’s eligibility success.
“We love him to death and we wish him well,” sophomore Sir’Dominic Pointer said. “We want him to come back soon, but we’re still in the middle of the season; we have to keep playing. Other people have to step up.”
Lavin likened the decision to different parents having a wide range of thought processes for raising their children.
“We had what I felt was a very productive heart-to-heart conversation, just kind of laying out the bright future he has, what’s at stake and it’s on me as his head coach to get him to become the full expression of who he’s capable of becoming.”
For now, the remaining members of the Red Storm will continue on to Providence for the first of the final three regular season games before the Big  East tournament. The team still holds onto the belief that they can compete for a bid in the NCAA tournament by the end of stretch, even without their de-facto leader.
“We just all need to step up, rally as a family and move forward,” sophomore Jamal Branch said.
When asked whether they thought they could still make the tournament, both Pointer and Branch had positive outlooks.
“100 percent,” Pointer said.
“Most definitely,” Branch added.

“@Kieran_Lynch: Harrison story updated with quotes from Lavin, Pointer and Branch. #stjbb
http://www.torchonline.com/sports/2013/03/01/harrison-suspended-for-remainder-of-season/”

“@BrandonTierney: Regarding D'Angelo Harrison's suspension, it's possible he returns next season but must earn it by changing behavior patterns.”

“@BrandonTierney: It's believed he wants to return, but his roster spot is not assured. Must change opinions within the program. Basically, time to grow up...”

“@BrandonTierney: Harrison is good, but he's not THAT good. Behind-the-scenes, it has been a struggle from Day 1. The dam finally busted open...”

Well that takes some of the guessing out, unless you got it in for Steve, so it would be time to make DH misunderstood. What I can't figure is if DH wanted to be here this year. Steve waiting until now to suspend him for the season makes me think DH did whatever he could to force coaches hand. What has surprised me is all the coach bashing on the board. Whys he the bad guy? I'm thinking he's the one who wants to be here. 

"it’s on me as his head coach ... "

So Lavin agrees with me that it's on the head coach. Clearly he's not as dumb as I've credited him with being.

" ... to become the full expression of who he’s capable of becoming.”

Whoopsie, spoke too soon. To become the full expression of who he's capable of becoming. Good grief. It's like Dr Phil with a head injury.

Lavin going to pull out the spanking analogy he used early in the year when Dee was benched?

I think another POV on this topic that I haven't seen addressed is the fact that Harrison's family and Harrison seem blindsided by this. Whether they should of known better or not, that's not the point. The fact is they were blindsided. This can signal Harrison's family to urge him to go somewhere else because they likely don't think he was treated fairly here. They might even suggest he come closer to home for more family support. Seeing Harrison's reactions to petty ref calls on him, I can only imagine what his real reaction was to this away from coach, the team, and the media. I'll bet you he is cussing Lavin out under his breath. Providence just got extremely lucky...imagine if we had to play them without Cotton? Providence, ND, and Marquette smell blood in the water right now. I really hope we don't get totally exposed and humiliated now to end the year. Have we ever had a player polarize our fanbase so much? Harrison has his loyal believers and his loyal haters. Just remember Miami football and the 1986 Mets...you don't always need nice guys to win big. I really hope Lavin made the right decision here. This is a move that literally can have ramifications for a few years.

Selfish move by Lav , imo. Unless Harrison really had a meltdown and cursed him out or refused to practice, how can you hurt the team as a whole and suspend the leading scorer with 3 must win game coming up. The truth needs to come out, what exactly did DLO do? He shakes his head on the court, he questions refs calls...deal with it Lav.

Steve gets to call the shots, and Harrison got to be the one to take notice. I'm only guessing, but the way Steve talks up his players, DH hadda be lookin to get suspended, or thinkin he's to good to have that happen to him. Who else Steve having trouble with?

QUOTE-"Well that takes some of the guessing out, unless you got it in for Steve, so it would be time to make DH misunderstood. What I can't figure is if DH wanted to be here this year. Steve waiting until now to suspend him for the season makes me think DH did whatever he could to force coaches hand. What has surprised me is all the coach bashing on the board. Whys he the bad guy? I'm thinking he's the one who wants to be here."JR49

I do not think Lavin is bashed at all. For whatever reason there are a lot of people that get bent out of shape if you question anything. Personally I do not think Lavin is a great game coach. Unless I am wrong, this knock preceded him here. Also right or wrong I am not happy about how the Harrison situation played out. As a fan of the program on the extreme NCAA bubble, why wouldn't I be unhappy at losing our best player? With that being said I am very happy he is the coach and there is not a realistic option I would want to replace him. Some people just need to get a grip and realize not everything is Black and white. You could like and support a coach or team w/o being a Stepford fan.

I do not think Lavin is bashed at all. For whatever reason there are a lot of people that get bent out of shape if you question anything. Personally I do not think Lavin is a great game coach. Unless I am wrong, this knock preceded him here. Also right or wrong I am not happy about how the Harrison situation played out. As a fan of the program on the extreme NCAA bubble, why wouldn't I be unhappy at losing our best player? With that being said I am very happy he is the coach and there is not a realistic option I would want to replace him. Some people just need to get a grip and realize not everything is Black and white. You could like and support a coach or team w/o being a Stepford fan.

This seems about right.   

Quote from: desco80 on March 01, 2013, 12:33:51 PM

I have a hard time finding any reason to fault coach Lavin over this.

Really? Lavin is supposed to be a teacher. At best he failed to teach Harrison to act like a gentleman and to follow the rules. All those stupid head games he played - benching him, sitting him, challenging him - none of them worked. They didn't work because they were cheap lame stupid shoddy grandstanding. Assuming that Lavin was smart enough to see that there was an issue, and to diagnose it, the treatment failed. The patient's dead.

It may be that Harrison is a sociopath. If so Lavin deserves blame for recruiting him. Maybe Harrison is merely incorrigible. If so, Lavin deserves blame for not civilizing him. Lavin is allegedly the adult in the room. There's more than enough blame to go around.

You got it in for Coach, without having enough to go on.

 Unless we know the details ( which maybe 2-3 informed posters do) I'm kind of indifferent on it at this point. It sucks, but it very well may have been warranted.  Maybe it was long overdue?

 Maybe Lavin is an ass?  Who knows?

 In the meantime, I'll side with Choz and Kob , and support the decision and that it was a long time comin...

It's best for Harrison to learn from this and move forward at STJ. With him STJ can be a top 10 team next year and he will be the captain.  If he jumps ship, he'll always have to answer the question "what happened at STJ?" 

Man, we could be so good with him if everyone comes back healthy.

I'm makin Dom the Capt. Only kidding. I would however leave it up to Dom.

I think another POV on this topic that I haven't seen addressed is the fact that Harrison's family and Harrison seem blindsided by this. Whether they should of known better or not, that's not the point. The fact is they were blindsided. This can signal Harrison's family to urge him to go somewhere else because they likely don't think he was treated fairly here. They might even suggest he come closer to home for more family support. Seeing Harrison's reactions to petty ref calls on him, I can only imagine what his real reaction was to this away from coach, the team, and the media. I'll bet you he is cussing Lavin out under his breath. Providence just got extremely lucky...imagine if we had to play them without Cotton? Providence, ND, and Marquette smell blood in the water right now. I really hope we don't get totally exposed and humiliated now to end the year. Have we ever had a player polarize our fanbase so much? Harrison has his loyal believers and his loyal haters. Just remember Miami football and the 1986 Mets...you don't always need nice guys to win big. I really hope Lavin made the right decision here. This is a move that literally can have ramifications for a few years.

I don't think any here hate DH. I did get a bit uncomfortable when he was thrown in with some of the all-time best. Now none of that dumb stuff have anything to do with him. I wonder if Lenny Wilkins ever taken in hand by those lucky enough to coach him.

Based on these boards(mostly Redmen) I would say Harrison was the least liked good player we have ever had.

I do not think Lavin is bashed at all. For whatever reason there are a lot of people that get bent out of shape if you question anything. Personally I do not think Lavin is a great game coach. Unless I am wrong, this knock preceded him here. Also right or wrong I am not happy about how the Harrison situation played out. As a fan of the program on the extreme NCAA bubble, why wouldn't I be unhappy at losing our best player? With that being said I am very happy he is the coach and there is not a realistic option I would want to replace him. Some people just need to get a grip and realize not everything is Black and white. You could like and support a coach or team w/o being a Stepford fan.

+1.  I'd say 40% of the posters here think you have to defend the coach at all costs without any questioning or else you want him fired.  Then there's 20% of us who see the gray areas.  Then there's the other 40% who will hate whatever Lavin does for their own reasons.  Then there's Baldi.

The funny thing about Harrison was early in his Frosh season I casually mentioned that Harrison shot a push shot. The backlash from that was pretty funny. Most here were up in arms "defending" Harrison. Well push shot or not I grew to like Harrison as a player and most went the other way. Even if suspension was warranted, judging by what we the fans saw on the court, some of the criticism of Harrison here was crazy! Anything behind the scenes only a select few knew about and yet the kid had every facial expression and body language inspected and disected like the Zapruder film.

....With him STJ can be a top 10 team next year and he will be the captain.

I'm not saying we don't have reason to be excited about next season, but lets not get carried away.