Toole confirms four suspended players done for a year

[Andrew_Chiappazzi]

Andrew Toole met with the media today prior to Robert Morris' practice and confirmed that the four players suspended indefinitely by Robert Morris last Friday are done for a year.

Jeremiah Worthem, Britton Lee, Shaire Tolson-Ford and Evan Grey were all suspended last Friday for what Robert Morris termed a violation of university policy. On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted RMU spokesman Jonathan Potts as stating that their alleged actions carried a "mandatory one-year suspension from Robert Morris."

Potts said no criminal charges will be filed and would not go into details about the incident that resulted in the discipline.

Toole said that the university's clarification is the extent that they'll comment on the matter.

"I think they just wanted to make sure that they clarified a little bit because there was some confusion with the first statement," Toole said.

Worthem and Lee are back in their native Philadelphia. Worthem attended a basketball game at his alma mater, Math Civics and Sciences Charter School, earlier in the week. Toole was non-committal as to whether any of the four would eventually return to the basketball program at RMU. The Post-Gazette reported that the players would be allowed to re-enroll at RMU, pending review, for the spring 2015 semester, which would begin in mid-January 2015.

"That's something we'll talk about when the suspension runs out," Toole said.

With Mike McFadden and Desjuan Newton away from the team for personal reasons and still deciding on whether they'll return, Robert Morris is down to eight players on the roster. The Colonials are 6-0 in the Northeast Conference and host second-place Bryant on Thursday in a game that will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
This post was edited on 1/29 3:05 PM by Andrew_Chiappazzi

 

[GoRMU]

A few thoughts:



I highly doubt that we will ever see the four young men in Colonials' uniforms again, not because RMU would not take them back after a year out of school, but because it's probably not in their own best interests. I think a logical route for Worthem to go would be to attend a JUCO next year. At a JUCO he could have an extremely successful season, avoid any trouble, and then be recruited by other D-1 programs. Lee could go the same route, although since he struggled to get any playing time this year, he may opt to go to a D-II school.



I feel bad for the young men. From the little bit that I know, I do not believe they viewed what they were doing as anything terribly wrong. No crime was committed and no one was hurt. However, it is an issue that RMU, as most schools these days, has a very strong and strict policy.



Although I believe it is extremely unfortunate that such harsh punishment had to be taken; I respect the RMU administration for not giving special treatment to athletes. My understanding is that this matter has been treated exactly in the same manner as it would have been if it involved students that were not athletes.



I am sorry to see the young men go; I wish them the best in the future.

 

[Andrew_Chiappazzi]

GoRMU, that's my understanding as well. This punishment is mandatory for their offense, regardless of their affiliation with any program at Robert Morris.

What makes it problematic for them to return to the basketball program is that they are suspended from Robert Morris as a whole. It's one thing to still be enrolled at RMU but not allowed to participate in basketball activities like Karon Abraham was a couple of years ago. It's another to no longer be on campus.

I think most people around the program are resigned to the fact that they won't be back. To my knowledge, I believe any transfer to a Division I school would require them to sit out a year, so a junior college route might be best. Of course, if they transferred to a D-I school and sat out a year, they would have 3 years of eligibility left rather than just two from going to junior college.

So we'll see. One thing is certain: It's going to be a very interesting final six weeks of the season for RMU and an even more interesting offseason.

 

[Original_RMC]

"No crime was committed and no one was hurt."

So what did these players do?

 

[Carlester]

I echo many of GoRMU's thoughts and am afraid we won't get to see the players in an RMU uniform again. It's tough to comment on this given the lack of information, but I wasn't anticipating a one-year ban from the University. Obviously, a very difficult lesson for all involved. I do want to commend the Iron Eight for their amazing effort and hope they get the support they deserve tonight and for the rest of the season.

While Andy has only been a head coach for a short-time, he certainly has had to weather several storms (dismissing his best player, numerous player injuries/defections, the Rice controversy and now this). To his credit, he hasn't complained, always represents the University with class and does everything he can to prepare his team to be successful. We're unbelievably fortunate to have him as our leader.

Go Colonials! Pack the Chuck tonight!

 

[ColonialCrazy]

I wont post any of the details because many of the people I have spoke to on campus that know the players don't want the news going public, but I will say the university's punishment is justifiable. They violated a major university policy.

Hope to see them back, but like others above, I don't think we see them again at RMU. A fresh start seems like the best route. Also, is a whole year of eligibility worth only 12 NEC games? I wouldn't think so. So transferring, getting a whole year's worth of games, and getting a fresh start seems like a better idea for Lee and Worthem.

 

[Andrew_Chiappazzi]

To clear up one item:
If they were to leave RMU, the players would have to request their release in order to transfer. If they do not step down to a Division II school or go to a junior college, they would also have to sit out a year. Though they're suspended from Robert Morris, I believe they are technically still considered Robert Morris students and therefore RMU student-athletes.

I'm sure if they requested a release from the basketball team and approval to transfer, they would get it. But they would face the normal transfer process to do so.

 

[GoRMU]

"request their release in order to transfer" Not only are they off the basketball team, they are expelled from RMU, they are not allowed on campus - that's about as released from a college basketball program as you can get. I understand RMU may have to sign off on some NCAA form, but surely that's just a formality, it would be a non-issue at this point.

 

[Andrew_Chiappazzi]

They are not expelled, just suspended. Think of it like when a high school student gets a 15 day out of school suspension for fighting in the hallways. They're still a student for that time, but they're not allowed to be in school. Same deal here, just for a year
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[Sean Miller Fan]

Originally posted by Original_RMC:
"No crime was committed and no one was hurt."

So what did these players do?

I have no idea what these players did but I think a very good guess would be that they were involved in some type of academic cheating scandal. This has become more and more commonplace. At Pitt, Gilbert Brown was suspended for the fall semester for.....the rumor was........turning in someone else's work as his own on a paper. Everett Golson was supsended for a year from ND. Jerian Grant just got suspended from ND. There was the Harvard cheating scandal.

 

[Andrew_Chiappazzi]

Sean Miller Fan, if you have no idea what the players did, then it's not fair to them to speculate.

All indications that I've received are that it is not academic related and it is not related to the three items that usually bring criminal charges (sex, drugs, alcohol). I don't have enough information to go beyond that, other than to rule those items out.

 

[ColonialCrazy]

It had nothing to do with academics, that I know.