Now what?

[doug shank's crossover]

Nate Wells

SIU is an anomoly because of their lack of size / depth, but for the rest of the Valley I think it's going to be necessary to ease Nate into the lineup, ready or not. If nothing else, a big body in the lane to eat some fouls and hopefully rebound a little. Might be a blessing in disguise as Nate will be expected to contribute next year. Besides, this wouldn't be the first time a big man has been thrust into the BU lineup without being "ready". Right?

[BUBalum05]

"Innocent until proven guilty" is a great idea for the courts and the legal justice system of our country. But people do have a right to have opinions, and even make judgements on their own based on the facts that are known. Even Bradley will suspend Will based on just the circumstances and his being arrested. I believe it would be wrong to withhold any suspension just because the case isn't closed yet. Maybe that seems unfair to some, but the athletes are held to a high standard.

That being said, I agree that we should not condemn a person until more of the facts are known.

I totally agree that scholarship athletes should be held to a higher standard. A scholarship athlete that puts himself in a situation to be arrested, guilty or not, deserves suspension.
I'm not saying these guys have to be little angels staying in their St James Apts studying all night, but short of going to one of the fast food joints or washing your car, there's not much good that can come from hanging out on Western Ave.

[LittleBrave]

I believe that people make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. BU has the opportunity to help one of the players make a huge change in his life. What if he was never caught ? Where would he be in ten years ? I got upset because what I read on the board was zero tolerance, he should be gone. That would just be wrong. I have faith in the program, they will do whats right by WE and BU.

I will keep any further opinions to private messages for now and go back to reading posts

I have mixed feelings about your post, Samd2.
I would love if BU was integral in helping WE to make a change in his life. But there is no guarantee that if the sentence is lightened and other steps were taken, that he would change. I would like to think so though.

But a harsher penantly may make him reflect that much more of what he did and how he let the team down. It would be a tough way to go, but would shake him up a bit more and send a message to anyone else in the program or recruits in the near future who play for BU that something like this will not be tolerated.

Personally, I'd like to see WE return even if speculation turns out to be true. I think he has represented the university well during his 6 years and is not a guy who has a pattern of trouble-making. He is a huge encourager on the team, which I suppose he can still do whether on the court or off it.

But I think he should miss half the Valley season. It would be nice too if he would have the scholarship taken away and given to a walk-on in his place, and then Will could choose to continue playing as a walk-on. Bradley has been very very good to Will, and doesn't really owe him anything else - just would come from a kind heart to give him another chance.

[SFP]

I have mixed feelings about your post, Samd2.
I would love if BU was integral in helping WE to make a change in his life. But there is no guarantee that if the sentence is lightened and other steps were taken, that he would change. I would like to think so though.

But a harsher penantly may make him reflect that much more of what he did and how he let the team down. It would be a tough way to go, but would shake him up a bit more and send a message to anyone else in the program or recruits in the near future who play for BU that something like this will not be tolerated.

Personally, I'd like to see WE return even if speculation turns out to be true. I think he has represented the university well during his 6 years and is not a guy who has a pattern of trouble-making. He is a huge encourager on the team, which I suppose he can still do whether on the court or off it.

But I think he should miss half the Valley season. It would be nice too if he would have the scholarship taken away and given to a walk-on in his place, and then Will could choose to continue playing as a walk-on. Bradley has been very very good to Will, and doesn't really owe him anything else - just would come from a kind heart to give him another chance.

Make him think? The problem has nothing to do with thinking but an addiction. I'm glad you're not the one dishing out the punishment. I'm sure the University will do what's right and what is in the best interest of both parties. He may have let us down but the only person he was really harming was himself. You would think BU is part of a fundamentalist movement the way some of you are taking this. He did not rape, steal or kill anyone.

[jdaes]

Bradley takes care of their athletes

What are you talking about 6 years to finish a degree? How many students stay 6 years to get their undergrad degrees and better yet, how many can afford to do that? These players get a high quality education for free and get to play basketball while doing it. They know that they will be in the spotlight and that is what they signed up for by accepting that offer. It is not hard to understand that you probably shouldn't be buying drugs of any kind when you have that much to lose, heck they shouldn't be buying drugs period. And if they are still going to then they better not get busted. They need to know that there are major repercussions when that happens. Unfortunately those repercussions will be how they learn and if that means no more basketball and removal of a scholarship then so be it. When I was a student if I didn't keep my grades up then I would lose my scholarship because I wasn't living up to the deal that Bradley offered me. And if that happened I'd have no one else to blame for the decisions I made that caused that to happen and I'd have to learn from it and move on.

So true!
Athletes at Bradley have their own advisors, counselors, etc. and Bradley is one of the few universities that pays for summer school and food and housing all summer! That is unheard of! I cannot believe a trainer would let him any where near a court unless he was totally rehabbed and not needing anything more than Advil.

[Gary the Gargoyle]

SIU is an anomoly because of their lack of size / depth, but for the rest of the Valley I think it's going to be necessary to ease Nate into the lineup, ready or not. If nothing else, a big body in the lane to eat some fouls and hopefully rebound a little. Might be a blessing in disguise as Nate will be expected to contribute next year. Besides, this wouldn't be the first time a big man has been thrust into the BU lineup without being "ready". Right?

Nate is getting beat on the boards by players 7 - 10 inches shorter than he is. Geno might as well be playing 5 guards too.