FanPost

Wow... and it's only gonna get worse

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/sns-mct-roth-on-outside-looking-in-20120726,0,5413154.story

There's a reason this story is getting so much attention in the media (see CBS story a few weeks ago), and it's not because 'it's IU'. It's because a coach is kicking off one of his most loyal players and best examples of a student athlete for Jeremy Hollowel. And because presumably someone else will be booted or forced to pay their own way come August 20th because Hanner Perea was too good to pass on. And it's because this coach is still recruiting heavily for a 2013 class that is full.

The responses I've seen from IU fans are rather disgusting in their blatant elevation of 'the program' above the lives of young men:

1. 'Roth got two degrees, so he's gotten enough.' Ignores the fact that even if he hadn't he would still be kicked off - and the fact that he gave as much to IU as they gave to him. Now when it's just getting good he's gone. Next it will be, 'he got two free years of education, isn't that enough?'

2. 'Sometimes you make decisions for the 'good of the program' that are tough.' - Since when is it ever good to have a program that screws with kids like this? Programs are about winning as a means to the ultimate end of enriching the college experience for student-athletes (or at least it is at 60-80% of schools). Period. Lose sight of that and you're simply an NBA fan who is too invested in the college game to move on.

3. 'This is unfortunate and no ones fault - a bunch of unexpected things happened to put Crean in this position.' I would find this more plausible if it were only one guy. But it's two, and it's likely to be more next year and the year after if he keeps recruiting like he does.

Sorry about the rant, but the silence from Bloomington on this is deafening... I hope we shock the world with two wins over IU this year with our 11 scholarship players (or is it 12 with Dru? oh well, it ain't 14).

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