Illini Player Arrested

[collegehoopjunkie]

Shaun Pruitt, starting center on the University of Illinois men's basketball team was arrested for aggravated battery early Saturday morning after a confrontation with a bouncer at The Clybourne, 706 S. Sixth St., Champaign, IL.

"A bouncer approached Pruitt after seeing the 6-foot-10, 240-pound athlete cut the line to get into the bar...
Pruitt and the bouncer began speaking, and according to a police report, Pruitt spat twice on the victim and slapped him."

"Police arrested Pruitt and took him to the Champaign County Jail. Pruitt has no previous record and will not be charged."

http://media.www.dailyillini.com/media/storage/paper736/news/2006/04/26/News/Pruitt.Arrested.At.The.Clybourne-1877522.shtml?sourcedomain=www.dailyillini.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com

http://www.sj-r.com/sections/sports/stories/84495.asp

[chitownBUB]

Pruitt is only 20 years old and won't turn 21 until November.
So what's he doing in a bar after midnight?
Does the Illinois basketball team not have anything to cover
this in their athletic code?

This event took place late Friday night/Saturday morning, and
isn't mentioned anywhere in the press until the following
Wednesday. Was there an attempt to cover this up and wash
their hands of it?

With all the similar incidents in college sports, why doesn't the
Illinois coach take a strong stance and kick the kid off the
team instantly, citing a "zero tolerance" policy?

But the ever present "look the other way" attitude exists, as
the second link says:
"Illinois coach Bruce Weber and athletic director Ron Guenther
will discuss Pruitt's case soon.
"Coach is aware of the situation and will monitor it," athletic
department spokesman Kent Brown said. "He will allow the legal
process to take its course, then decide if he needs to apply
any additional discipline."

[tornado]

This kind of stuff is all too common.
We have almost got a running topic on the board about players in bar-fights and bvehaving badly.
Just a quick check of the news stories in just the last 24 hours comes up with--
---Pruitt and his bar fight
---Duke players and their rape scandal
---one of the Duke players has a previous assault arrest pending
---Police stormed Utah Jazz player-Robert Whaley's house and arrested the player's brother for assault with a firearm
---UConn's Marcus Wiiliams is declaring for the draft, just a year or so after being arrested for breaking into dorm rooms and stealing laptops.
---US basketball player, Kenyan Weaks gets arrested for (ahem) public indecency

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=62561

---two University of Montana basketball players were arrested and charged with breaking into another student's dorm room and attacking him.

http://www.kaimin.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1511&Itemid=55

---and there are even more, but you get the picture.

I have a feeling that this stuff will continue unless teams institute an absolutely zero tolerance policy of dismissing kids who even get spotted anywhere near trouble.
The lust for athletic talent causes these coaches to value the points more than the behavior.

[tornado]

The main tone of the articles as they are being published in the other Big Ten cities, is how easy the punishment seems for the arrest.
"Illinois player gets adult diversion program after arrest"

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/14433177.htm