“I take a toke / And my team’s prayers / Go up in smoke…”
I’m not sure if there’s a Facebook group yet for “Division I basketball players suspended from Catholic universities after being arrested for drug possession,” but if there is, Kyle McAlarney has some new friends to invite. Two Gonzaga players, including star forward Josh Heytvelt, have been suspended indefinitely after being arrested Friday night for alleged drug possession:
Gonzaga players Josh Heytvelt and Theo Davis have been indefinitely suspended from the team after their arrest Friday night for investigation of drug possession, ESPN.com’s Andy Katz reported.
A Gonzaga spokesperson told Katz that Gonzaga coach Mark Few is disappointed and shocked by the arrest, in which police in Cheney, Wash., said they found marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms in a car in which the two players were riding.
Both players have told Gonzaga officials they are innocent.
However, Gonzaga has suspended both indefinitely, so Heytvelt and Davis will not play Saturday against Saint Mary’s or on Monday against Santa Clara, Katz reported.
Both players were booked into Spokane County Jail for investigation of drug possession, The Associated Press reported.
Cheney Police Commander Rick Campbell said the amount of marijuana was only enough for a misdemeanor, but that possession of mushrooms is a felony. …
From a basketball perspective, the timing is poor for Gonzaga (17-8, 7-2 WCC). The Bulldogs are tied for first with Santa Clara atop the WCC and saw the next two games as a chance to clinch the regular-season conference title. Gonzaga won its previous meeting with Santa Clara.
“Poor” is putting it mildly. Tonight’s game is now a golden opportunity for underrated Santa Clara to take the West Coast Conference lead by giving the undoubtedly shell-shocked Zags their first-ever loss at the McCarthey Athletic Center, ending their nation’s-best 49-game winning streak. [CORRECTION: Gonzaga plays St. Mary’s tonight, Santa Clara on Monday night. My mistake.] And a loss would be devastating for Gonzaga, probably ending their hopes of an NCAA at-large berth (unless they can beat Memphis next Saturday — which seems unlikely if Heytvelt is still out at that point, which he presumably will be).
That said, the “season goes up in smoke” thing in my headline is admittedly premature, but… call it a prediction. I just don’t see how Gonzaga does anything of note the rest of the way after losing Heytvelt in mid-February. Besides, I couldn’t resist the pun. :)
But seriously, if Heytvelt is gone for the season, which I assume he is, that late-season loss of a star player — if coupled with a loss tonight (or some other night between now and the end of the WCC regular season) and another loss in the WCC tournament, on top of the Zags’ already shaky resume — would give the committee plenty of leeway to leave the Zags home in March and not feel bad about it. And even if the Zags make the tourney, I’m not convinced they can make much noise without Heytvelt. When he’s been on his game this season, the Zags have looked good; when he’s been off, they’ve looked terrible. If he’s gone entirely, I don’t think this team has much of a chance of returning to the Sweet Sixteen.
So, um, yeah, this totally sucks. And it’s all because their freakin’ tail lights weren’t working:
Police said they pulled the car over because its tail lights were not working. Campbell said officers smelled marijuana and searched the car, and the players were cooperative.
“It was close to midnight. They needed to have their lights on,” Campbell said.
Memo to stupid college kids who believe that recreational drug use is worth risking their education, their athletic careers and their freedom: If you’re going to be an idiot and have drugs in your car, for heaven’s sake don’t give the police any excuse to pull you over!! (Some more helpful hints can be found here.)
Well, anyway, this will be a real test of Mark Few’s coaching skills, I suppose. If he can get them through tonight and Monday unscathed, that will be a real accomplishment. If he can get them to rally from this incident, perhaps even somehow drawing strength from it, and get through the rest of the season unscathed and into the NCAAs, that will be a near-miracle.
UPDATE: The Spokesman-Review has more about the arrest. S-R blogger Vince Grippi says: “The traffic stop occurred a little before midnight in Cheney. Which brings up a couple of questions that I do not know the answer to but hope to find out: Do the Zags have a curfew before home games and is there random drug testing throughout the season?”
Nothing yet from La Rev, but I’m sure that will change. Of course, there’s lots of discussion over at GU Nation.
P.S. I should emphasize, I suppose, that Heytvelt and Davis (who is red-shirting this season) are entitled to a presumption of innocence… and since they are claiming innocence, we shouldn’t just assume they’re guilty. Still, as a practical matter, unless these cops were rogue Santa Clara fans or something, I can’t quite imagine how this can end well for the arrested Zags.
Incidentally, if you’re keeping score at home, the tally is now:
Brendan’s Favorite Teams Whose Seasons Have Been Disrupted By A Drug Arrest: 2
Brendan’s Favorite Teams Whose Seasons NOT Have Been Disrupted By A Drug Arrest: 1
If some USC player is caught smoking up in the next month, I may just have to give up college basketball forever. ;)
UPDATE 2: La Rev has posted. His title: “Pick an expletive, any expletive.” But he’s trying, at least, to hold off on jumping to conclusions, and doing a better job of it than me. Still, he can’t help but ask:
But seriously, what in the H-E-Double Damn Hockey Sticks is going on around here? Mushrooms? What the hell is this, a Jethro Tull concert? Mushrooms?
Meanwhile, Terry at I See Invisible People, being a better person than either me or La Rev (or possibly just not a Gonzaga fan), is more concerned about the human side of things:
While they’re in the media spotlight because of their places on a nationally ranked basketball team [well, not technically, but close enough -ed.], Davis and Heytvelt are really just kids, and kids are prone to screw up. I’m less concerned about what their loss will mean to the team than about what these charges will do to their futures, and not just inside basketball. Should law enforcement make an exception for them because they’re athletes? Nope. Has all the fawning press gone to their heads? Quite possibly. But my heart goes out to them anyway, the same as it would to any kid who makes a big mistake. Do I think possession should be a crime? No, I don’t. But it is, and every choice carries potential consequences. In their case, those consequences are going to be huge.
What about the academic consequences? Deadspin says the university’s drug policy is “kind of vague”:
Documented violations of illegal possession, consumption, provision, or sale of narcotics or drugs, or possession of paraphernalia, may result in disciplinary sanctions from the University and/or referral to law enforcement officials.
Deadspin summarizes this as: “We won’t like it when you smoke the reefer, and we might also do something about it. If we have to.” Du Lac it ain’t. Here’s the full policy.
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Categories: Gonzaga, NCAA Basketball & Pools
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February 10th, 2007 at 5:35:13 pm
I’m not going to say that I’ve had experience seeing the black light posters and beeds-for-doors of former Gonzaga basketball players, or heard of players with “injuries” having to sit out for a few games, but that drug policy only applies to idiots who get caught…by the damn police.
But I reaaaaaaally need to hear what the players have to say, before I say anything else publicly.
Do you mind if I say “blows” on your blog? If so, I can just say “This not good.”
February 10th, 2007 at 6:41:07 pm
Brendan: “And it’s all because their freakin’ tail lights weren’t working.”
Um, no. It’s all because they were in possession of illegal substances. If this was just a tail light issue, we wouldn’t have heard anything about this. It may not be fair on a human level, but when you are a big time player at a big time basketball school you need to make as many smart decisions off the court as you do on. Tooling around town the hippy letuce and some magic mushrooms - in season no less - is not a smart decision.
February 10th, 2007 at 6:54:19 pm
Nah, I’m not a better person, and I am a huge fan (thanks for the quote, btw), but I did a lot of stupid things at that age, too. This blew up on them big time.
February 10th, 2007 at 7:06:51 pm
Hey awesome site, and great story. Those two are rediculously retarded and now everyone knows…sucks to be a zag. You should come check out my sports blog at http://www.thesportsflow.blogspot.com
OR
email me at: thesportsflow@hotmail.com
I’d love to post your link if you would be interested in posting mine
February 10th, 2007 at 8:30:58 pm
The Zags play St Mary’s tonight not Santa Clara. They plays the Broncs on Monday on an ESPN game. The good news is that they are out to a 14-4 lead very early.
Granted, that’s pretty weak ‘good news’ relative to the bad news from earlier.
February 10th, 2007 at 8:57:09 pm
This will be interesting. A few years ago a few kids from the soccer team were booted for a party that had drugs and alcohol in it. Now this happens. I suspect both this goofs will be gone as they should be.
February 10th, 2007 at 11:13:24 pm
Psychadelic mushrooms?? I thought that was big like in the 60’s or something.
February 10th, 2007 at 11:21:21 pm
Idiots. Both idiots.
I can’t comment on GU’s drug policy because I didn’t know anyone personally who did drugs, and don’t really know what happens when you get caught. I could tell you what the University’s policy is on intervisitation or drinking (both of which are fairly common violations), but not drugs. I did hear through the grapevine back in the day that a certain former guard of ours was quite a pothead though. And that a certain star forward caused a ton of damage to his on-campus apartment by keeping 3 dogs and a marmot in his apartment, although there was a strict no pets policy. And that Adam Morrison was a huge jerk.
Something I just realized: Gonzaga has been in the national news (other than typical basketball win/loss stuff) twice this year, for the Kennel Club’s “Brokeback Mountain” cheer and now this. Maybe if nothing else people might start pronouncing “Gonzaga” correctly for once.
February 11th, 2007 at 12:01:10 am
Brendan: “And it’s all because their freakin’ tail lights weren’t working.”
TBone pretty much already covered this, but come on Brendan! You are a far too reasoned thinker to make a fanboyish comment like that. The reason they were arrested is because they were hotboxing a car without functioning tail lights. They were putting other peoples’ lives at risk by driving under the influence of a powerful psycoactive drug. When the officer pulled them over, he smelled the illegal substance and discovered it AND another drug, a HALLUCINOGEN no less, in their possession. You should have said, “And it’s all because they were idiotic, foolish, selfish, careless, immature, and criminal.” That would have been accurate.
February 11th, 2007 at 5:52:51 am
I find this interesting: USC beat LMU. LMU beat Gonzaga. Gonzaga beat Stanford. Stanford beat USC.
On any day, eh?
February 11th, 2007 at 10:49:39 am
Patrick and T-Bone: Um, did you guys click the “more” link?
I think I made myself fairly clear when I followed up the line you’re both quoting with the concluding statement:
I’m not condoning the behavior. I, in fact, condemned it. I’m just making the somewhat tongue-in-cheek comment that their idiocy is all-the-more idiotic because they couldn’t even manage to be idiots discreetly.
As a factual matter, the statement “it’s all because their freakin’ tail lights weren’t working” is accurate. It doesn’t imply a moral judgment, it’s just a factually correct statement. The reality is, they wouldn’t have been caught if not for those tail lights. My point is simply, wow, these guys are idiots, in fact they’re such idiots that they could easily have gotten away with this, but managed not to because… they’re idiots! That’s all I’m saying.
I didn’t mince any words in condemning their behavior, so I’m not sure what you’re criticizing me for — unless you didn’t click the “more” link, in which case I could sort of understand (though you must have wondered what the deal was with the colon at the end of the line you quoted).
February 11th, 2007 at 12:12:45 pm
Actually, Brendan, it’s factually incorrect. If I had broken tail lights, I wouldn’t be arrested for drug possession quite simply because I would never possess illegal drugs. The factually correct statement would be: “And it’s all because they possessed and were smoking illegal drugs in a car without functioning tail lights.” It’s not ALL because of the tail lights. That much is intuitively obvious. And yes, I DID click and read the “MORE” section. It did not in any way substantiate your comment.
February 11th, 2007 at 2:45:44 pm
Here’s a really good article about this mess: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/collegesports/2003566843_zags11.html
February 11th, 2007 at 3:55:24 pm
Look, Patrick, if you want to parse my words to reach the textually defensible yet facially implausible conclusion that I was suggesting anyone with faulty headlights could be charged with felony drug possession, go right ahead. It’s perfectly clear what I meant.
Kristin’s linked Seattle Times article has a good paragraph making the same point about their stupidity:
Indeed.
February 11th, 2007 at 3:59:04 pm
Er, faulty tail lights, that is.
February 11th, 2007 at 5:14:59 pm
Thanks for the link.
February 12th, 2007 at 12:28:16 am
Brendan,
The conclusion that I drew required no parsing of your words, and I was not suggesting that you were arguing that everyone who drives without functioning tail lights could be arrested for drug possession. I was merely showing why your statement was factually incorrect. My basic criticism of your statement is that it diminishes the significance of the underlying cause of the arrests - the possession of illegal drugs. It was a statement of frustration akin to “Gosh, why couldn’t they just have had functioning tail lights!” I can see a fan of Gonzaga making such a “fanboyish” statement, but you’re above it, frankly. I would have said something more akin to “Gosh, why couldn’t they have just been non-drug using, law-abiding citizens!”
February 12th, 2007 at 1:18:57 am
Actually, Brendan, as a fellow language Nazi, I’m going to have to side with Patrick here. Your statement is “And it’s all because their freakin’ tail lights weren’t working” Key word which makes that incorrect: all.
Alternate scenario: I am carrying a large box downstairs, with my vision obscured by that box. My shoe is untied. I step on the shoelace, trip, and fall down the stairs. Is it all because my shoelace was untied? All because of the large box? I would argue no. While the shoelace being untied is one of the proximate causes, it is not a sufficient cause–stepping on the shoelace and not being able to see what I’m doing are other contributing factors. As is, well, gravity. Likewise, in your case, they players most likely wouldn’t have missed the game if their tail lights had been working properly. They also wouldn’t have missed them if they weren’t using illegal drugs. So, basically, I object to your use of the word “all”