As if today weren't hectic enough with Donald Sterling, James Franklin, and Larry Johnson, things got a little crazier when some interesting basketball news broke - and it was actually related to Pitt.
Unfortunately, it's not great news:
Derrick Randall, one of the former Rutgers basketball players suing the school and former coach Mike Rice, was arrested and charged after a motor vehicle stop early Tuesday morning at Rutgers with driving while intoxicated, use of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of a controlled dangerous substance, Rutgers University Police said.
...
Randall’s passenger, Abayomi O. Olaogun, a 19-year-old from Hillside was arrested and charged with use of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to the Post-Gazette's Paul Zeise, who had the first local mention, I believe, he's suspended:
#Pitt suspends center Derrick Randall for DWI arrest in New Jersey... http://t.co/pvl8YXLoxO
— Paul Zeise (@PaulZeise) April 30, 2014
And, according to the Trib, it's indefinite. Head coach Jamie Dixon had this to say:
“The incident involving Derrick Randall this morning is not only surprising, but incredibly disappointing,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said in a statement released by the university. “Although I believe it was out of character for Derrick, he has been indefinitely suspended.”
Well, then.
The DWI is, of course, bad in and of itself. And in possession of drug paraphernalia and controlled substances? Not. Good.
Trying to be fair to Randall here won't be easy for a lot of people. Pitt is not only over their scholarship limit already, but still reportedly pursuing other players. Speculation has been running amok as to who will go to make room for the new players. At least one player will need to go and if the reports or true, more than one. Until his fate is known, this is going to be the elephant in the room, folks.
Randall was brought on for some frontcourt depth after the unexpected departure of Steven Adams to the NBA. But he never really panned out, to be honest, and based on what he did last year, you could question if he deserves to be back.
Randall wasn't exactly a star for Pitt, averaging 2.1 points and 2.4 rebounds a game. The biggest problem is that, as I've said repeatedly, he hasn't really improved in three years of college ball now. His stats across the board are almost identical to what they were when he was a freshman at Rutgers and even by the end of last year, it's hard to say that he improved all that much.
I'm not yet ready to make the leap to saying he's as good as gone, but with the scholarship situation the way it currently is, you can get ready for a lot of talk about a potential dismissal.
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