WKU Basketball: Breaking Down The Suddenly Eventful Preseason
The season hasn’t officially begun and we have already seen three suspensions handed out to three separate WKU players for run-ins with the…
The season hasn’t officially begun and we have already seen three suspensions handed out to three separate WKU players for run-ins with the law. How will this affect the Hilltoppers chances of dominating Conference USA and maybe a run into March Madness?
It all started ahead of this past Tuesday’s exhibition with Campbellsville, when it was announced that Taveion Hollingsworth wouldn’t be playing because he was serving a suspension for “violating team rules.”
Naturally, the vague explanation led fans to ask what happened?
According to the WKU Herald and WKU police log, Taveion was cited for possession of marijuana Monday evening. (Citation or arrest does not confirm guilt and we are all innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. *Dun dun*)
Now to Jake, our resident shyster (lawyer guy), occasional writer, and RedOUT podcaster:
Hi Guys! I’ll start with a very lawyery thing to do and give a short disclaimer. I am not the attorney of anyone at the Towel Rack, RedOut, or anyone associated with us. I’m just citing you the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) provisions and what they say about the what may or may not have happened. And don’t DM for legal advice.
According to KRS 218A.1422, Possession of Marijuanna is a class b misdemeanor. KRS 534.040 goes on to outline what the punishments for misdemeanor are:
Except as otherwise provided for an offense outside this code, a person who has been convicted of any offense other than a felony shall be sentenced, in addition to any other punishment imposed upon him, to pay a fine in the amount not to exceed:
a) For a Class A misdemeanor, five hundred dollars ($500); or
b) For a Class B misdemeanor, two hundred fifty dollars ($250); or
c) For a violation, two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
We don’t know what will come of it, but that’s just what the law in KY has to say about it.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Becoming the 2017 Kentucky Mr. Basketball and scoring 506 points his freshman season at WKU only makes the citation even more questionable. When asked Coach Stansbury said, “Taveion is a guy that I least expect to do anything not right.”
He continued, “So, you know, basically it was a decision we find out about (Tuesday) and have to handle it… He’s got to learn from that situation, he’s got to grow from it, accept his responsibility and his accountability of it and get better from it.”
So how will this effect the Hilltoppers season? Hollinsworth averages about 13 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.9 assists (as of last year). He has already sat out the first exhibition game against Campbellsville and returned for the exhibition against Kentucky Wesleyan, where he led the game in scoring, with 24 points (along with Charles Bassey), 10 rebounds, and was perfect at the free throw line (7/7).
Assuming he doesn’t have any further run ins with law enforcement, Taveion should be in the clear. Hollinsworth will be arraigned on Nov. 20.
To make matters worse, around 12:52 a.m. Thursday, another Hilltopper basketball player, Josh Anderson, was arrested on second degree disorderly conduct charges (Again, arrest does not confirm guilt, we are all innocent until proven guilty in a court of law).
According to BGPD, a large crowd had gathered in the parking lot of the Hilltop Club Apartments at 12:24 a.m. When police asked the crowd to leave, Anderson refused and “was standing next to a vehicle dancing and singing which caused people to stand there and laugh at him.” Anderson was asked a second time to leave and he refused again and “said multiple curse words and started yelling at me instead of leaving.”
Back to our powdered wig wearing friend Jake:
(But seriously guys, lawyers in Great Britain still dress like they are attorneys from 250 years ago it’s awesome.)
Disorderly conduct is sort of catch-all statute. The statute KRS 525.060 states that a person is guilt of disorderly conduct second degree when:
1) in a public place and with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm, or wantonly creating a risk thereof, he:
a) Egages in fighting or violent, tumultous, or threatening behavior;
b) Makes unreasonable noise;
c) Refuses to obey an offical order to disperse issues to maintain public safety in dangerous proximity to a fire, hazard, or other emergency; or
d) Creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act that serves no legitimate purpose
2) Disorderly conduct in the second degree is a Class B misdemeanor.
I don’t know about you all, but all of this just sounds like a fun Friday night to me. Back to you Devin!
Anderson had great game against Campbellsville on Tuesday, scoring 22 points, shooting 53% from the floor and snagged a couple rebounds.
Like Taveion’s citation, this incident led to a one-game suspension for the Tops preseason finale against Kentucky Wesleyan.
After the game on Saturday, Stansbury said Anderson will be able to play in the season opener against Washington.
However, Anderson wasn’t the only player absent from the floor against KWC. In the same press release, WKU basketball said that Desean Murray had been suspended indefinitely.
Shortly after, Brad Stephens of the Bowling Green Daily News reported Murray had also been cited of marijuana possession.
The scary part of this suspension, compared to the others, is the word “indefinite.” Being a grad transfer (and having issues with the law in the past) is probably the reason behind the coaching staff suspending Murray “indefinitely.” This is a behavior that WKU’s coaching staff is probably trying to correct, and keep from becoming an issue in the future.
(We do not know the details of the arrest/citation so this is not a confirmation of guilt, and we are all innocent until proven guilty.)
But the big take away is that missing Murray is a big deal for the Tops.
WKU still beat Kentucky Wesleyan, but it’ll be a much taller task to successfully take on Washington without Murray.
Looking at the forwards that follow Murray, the Tops have some options: Moustapha Diagne, Matt Horton, Marek Nelson (who started in Murray’s place on Saturday) and Tolu Smith could all be asked to step up and see minutes that would have been reserved for the former Auburn Tiger.
(Smith has been dealing with an injury for most of the preseason. I’m sure the coaching staff is trying to take it easy with him.)
And, while each of those players could be serviceable, the experience Murray brings to the Hill is undeniably important. In the exhibition game against Campbellsville, Murray scored 14 points, had three rebounds, and was on the floor for 22 minutes. Looking at the numbers, all four forwards scored only 17 points. Murray also had two steals in the Campbellsville game.
So, the big question.
What do all of these preseason off-court issues mean?
Hopefully, nothing. That is to say, hopefully we have seen the end of it — especially with Murray’s indefinite suspension and how passionate Stansbury was in his post-game presser following the KWC game. The players know what is expected of them and they know that Stans is not messing around.
On the court, WKU has a load of talent this season. Thanks to Stansbury’s recent recruiting classes, the Tops are projected to dominate the conference and make a run for, and possibly in, the NCAA Tournament. WKU is going to be alright, even with these little speed bumps in the preseason.