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JayVaughn Pinkston suspended for the entire season

The ruling has come down in the JayVaughn Pinkston case, and it is not good for the freshman.

Pinkston has been suspended from Villanova for the spring semester, meaning that he will not be allowed to play this season. To be clear, this suspension is being issued by the school, not the basketball team or the NCAA. Since Pinkston has not played in a game this season, he will be allowed to take a redshirt.

Pinkston will have to reapply to the school next summer to attain student in good standing status, which he needs to be a member of the basketball team.

Before I get into my reaction, here is the statement issued by Jay Wright:

I am in support of the University’s decision. JayVaughn understands that there are consequences to his actions, and I believe he will continue to handle this in a mature manner. We look forward to his return in June.

And JayVaughn Pinkston:

I am sorry. This situation is my responsibility and I have learned from it. I am going to work extremely hard so that I can return to the Villanova family in June.

If you don’t remember, JayVaughn Pinkston was involved in an altercation, the rumor being that he got in a fight with a couple of Villanova students, which resulted in one of the students being taken to the hospital.

Obviously, this is a tough time for Pinkston, but its refreshing to see a school make a player pay a serious punishment for a serious offense. During the offseason, there were a number of assaults allegedly committed by college hoopers. Tre’Von Willis, LaceDarius Dunn, and Tony Woods were all involved in domestic disturbances that resulted in injuries, some of them serious, to women.

Woods was dismissed from Wake Forest, but Dunn and Willis missed a grand total of five games.

Pinkston will miss an entire season.

I may be in the minority here, but I feel for Pinkston. I really do. I’m sure I’m not the only one that got into a fight in college. It happens, especially when alcohol is involved and the pride of an 18 year old kid is on the line. I’m not excusing what he did, but we would all be hypocritical if we didn’t admit to knowing where he came from.

That said, Pinkston has a responsibility here. He’s getting his education paid for by Villanova to play basketball. He’s also a 6'6", 250 lb man child. Simply put, you cannot go around punching fellow students when you are an athlete, especially an athlete that is bigger than just about everyone in the city of Philadelphia.

I’ve been in his shoes.

I missed my senior season in college because of a mistake I made.

And while it was a miserable experience, I grew from it. Here’s to hoping JayVaughn does the same.