Mitch McGary To NBA
Exit. [Fuller]
Well, dammit. McGary's out the door and in the end there wasn't even a decision to make:
The Michigan sophomore who turned down a prime opportunity to enter last year's NBA draft and paid a price has decided to declare for the 2014 draft, admitting that he failed an NCAA-administered drug test in March and faced a one-year suspension from college basketball.
The drug test he failed was for pot, which seems ludicrous. Since when does the NCAA even test for pot, let alone levy year-long suspensions? Especially of a player who didn't even play? The situation here is insane. If Michigan issues the test, they get to decide the punishment. If the NCAA does, it's pretty much a death penalty for your career:
By failing a test administered by the NCAA, rather than his school, McGary was subject to the draconian Bylaw 18.4.1.5.1, which calls for a player to be "ineligible for a minimum of one calendar year." A second offense, even for just marijuana, results in permanent banishment.
"If it had been a Michigan test, I would've been suspended three games and possibly thought about coming back," McGary said. "I don't have the greatest circumstances to leave right now [due to the injury]. I feel I'm ready, but this pushed it overboard.
"I don't think the penalty fits the crime. I think one year is overdoing it a little bit."
Michigan agreed, McGary said, and appealed the decision to the NCAA in early April. It was denied, however. Neither the university nor the NCAA would comment directly on the case or the appeal.
The NCAA is the worst organization in the world (that isn't FIFA). They just changed the penalty to a half-season—still ludicrously punitive for a substance that is heading towards legalization within a decade—and would still not relent, because think of the NCAA like a marching band full of assholes. Good on McGary for just talking about it. At least one party in this situation comes off like an adult.
Michigan's situation at the five is now pretty alarming. They've got true freshman Ricky Doyle and, now out of necessity, redshirt freshman Mark Donnal. Transfer Cole Huff now has a scholarship slot, though he would not be available next year.
April 25th, 2014 at 10:35 AM ^
Fact is there is an element of randomness here that is especially disturbing. I have know idea whether there was a chance Mitch was coming back or not, but landing on a 1 year suspension from a plinko chip made of a single pot test is just not sensical. God knows how many of those chips I had/have bouncing around in my life (although drugs aren't in my mix).
April 25th, 2014 at 10:36 AM ^
"[A]dults are better than that at weighing their priorities and don't purposely break the rules and then play victim."
This is breathtakingly stupid. No one is condoning his drug use, but he IS a victim of a penalty that is grossly disproprotionate to the crime committed, as you and the NCAA have both acknowledged. There is no reason for the NCAA to force a kid out of school unnecessarily, which is exactly what they did.
April 25th, 2014 at 10:38 AM ^
I agree that it's a rule and should be followed...
...but damn, how many college athletes smoke pot? I have honestly never heard of this rule being enforced. It seems odd (not saying it's a conspiracy, it's just WEIRD) that it just so happens to be a Preseason All-American who was on the fence about leaving for the NBA after having just spent most of the season watching from the bench due to injury. If that failed test happens to Albrecht or Irvin or Donnal (not saying they would fail), they're coming back in 2015-2016. Even LeVert would probably stick around.
I mean, Stretchgate put Michigan on probation even though virtually every team out there does it. Now McGary gets caught smoking pot at the wrong time of the year (during the Tourney) and that essentially ends his college career.
I mean, this is really just a huge dong punch.
April 25th, 2014 at 10:56 AM ^
Most aren't stupid enough to do it, or get caught, during the NCAA tournament.
I agree with Wahoo. This rule is well known and speaks more to McGary than an organization we already know is beyond out of touch.
April 25th, 2014 at 11:18 AM ^
are going to get negged senseless but for some reason your post made me think for a minute. Do we know that Mitch was the only one tested? Horford "transfers" for no reason, Robinson declare despite being nearly a consensus second rounder, and now this. I wonder who else was tested. And I hope this is the end of the story as far as the remainder of the team goes. Let's be honest, our basketball team does seem like a bunch who would rather spark one and watch Kingpin than go out and party. I hope that they did not do so at the wrong time collectively.
April 25th, 2014 at 11:49 AM ^
transferred, he would be suspended.
I think you are reading too much into it. It's not like there wasn't a good chance GRIII was going pro.
April 25th, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^
be, or perhaps I did not read enough into when Horford "transferred." I guess when he shows up on a different NCAA roster then this angle will be put to be forever in my mind. But Horford leaving made no sense then and it makes less sense now.
the conspiracy-type bullshit makes me think you're both teenagers, though neither one of you fit that bit.
Horford's family has been on his back for four years urging him to transfer. He's graduating and probably wants to stop the fight.
The NBA drafts on potential, so GRIII might go higher.
When you express your opinion to a bunch of fanatics that doesn't toe the party line, that's what happens.
I can't believe McGary is getting a completely free pass for this, when a) he broke a rule that he was clearly aware of and b) HE MIGHT HAVE LEFT ANYWAY.
Look at it this way, players are perenially suspended and occasionally kicked off a team for the classic "violation of team rules." Sometimes those rules include drug infractions. If that had happened to McGary (for whatever reason) would fans blame Beilein for this, even if they knew it was for a drug infraction? Of course not.
April 26th, 2014 at 10:31 AM ^
Horford is still at an NCAA school when he transfers...he wants to play in a system that he thinks better suits his skills and his family is comfortable with. I'm thinking he goes to UCF.
Robinson was done with school and wanted to go to the next level - he just wants to be in the league. How do you know he's a 2nd round pick? I guarantee you thought the same about THJ last year.
Also, they don't test everyone on the team. You have NO idea what you're talking about. They MAY pick one player from each team. But they don't test everyone or even multiple people.
If they did that, you realize how often this would come up? Do you think Mitch McGary is the first guy to smoke weed during the NCAA Tournament? Or only seniors and the guys going pro do it but no one who plans to return does it?
Hell, Dakich, Albrecht and the rest of McGary's buddies could've hit the same joint/blunt/bong/etc. and because they weren't tested, they can still play.
Come on. Use the ol' hat rack.
April 25th, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^
do they just count 30 days before the tournament and stop smoking? Seems easy enough. One of McGary's friends must have been paid off by a State fan to get McGary to smoke. That's the real story here....
April 25th, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
So you start off your post with implying that McGary is A) stupid and B) should've been sneakier about smoking and then finish by agreeing with the previous stupidity that he is some sort of poor quality individual because he smoked pot at all. God, I hope you don't work with kids.
Your reading comprehension skills need some work.
The NCAA rule is stupid. What McGary did, KNOWING THE RULE, is also stupid. They aren't mutually exclusive.
And yeah, he should have been sneakier with his pot smoking. It's not that damn hard.
April 25th, 2014 at 11:39 AM ^
If there is a place in Bolivia for having one's head encased in concrete this deserves it.
April 25th, 2014 at 10:41 AM ^
Nice Wahoo, real classy to pass judgement so wontonly. I think the following shows more maturity than you: (LINK)
"The Chesterton, Ind., native could've just turned pro and not mentioned the failed drug test publicly or privately. It stands to reason other players have done just that.
Instead, McGary believed being honest would be best for himself, his family, the Michigan program and his pro future, where he won't have to worry about news leaking out and NBA teams believing he was hiding something.
"I'd rather come out and say I messed up," he said."
April 25th, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^
His honesty in admitting he messed up is admirable. Perhaps "playing the victim" is not the right choice of words. I'm still not the least bit impressed with his choice to smoke nor all that sympathetic about the consequences. If I'd smoked up in college I'd have had the exact same thing happen to me, losing my scholarship, and worse, I'd have had to pay back every dime I'd been given, which Mitch does not, and nobody would've said, "oh, poor guy, those nasty mean rules are just too tough." I knew the rules and so did Mitch.
April 25th, 2014 at 10:54 AM ^
nobody would've said, "oh, poor guy, those nasty mean rules are just too tough."I would have. And so would probably a shitload of other people. Because that's fucking stupid.
April 25th, 2014 at 11:00 AM ^
for analogies in order to call someone a hypocrite.... and this is none of my business and I'm trying to figure out what type scholly you may have received and to where ..... but..... Service Academy maybe? inappropriate conduct with female cadets? There must be something you did at some point where a potential punishment didn't fit the crime. If not, you're a hell of a guy.
April 25th, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^
It was a ROTC scholarship. One failed drug test and you're out and whatever money the government had already paid the school, they expected back, from you, not the school. Happened to another guy in our unit.
April 25th, 2014 at 11:21 AM ^
Now I see the similarities to your situation:
Military = Sports
Rifle = Basketball
United States Government = NCAA
April 25th, 2014 at 11:37 AM ^
but of all institutions with some pretty out of date rules that people break fairly regularly the military must be at the top.....
April 25th, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^
Oh, now I see the parallel: The ROTC gets weapons training; McGary is a weapon. Just look at his guns!
April 25th, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^
"don't ask, don't tell" policy on another issue? Isn't that actually saying you can break a rule and we will ignore it?
I'm not taking a stance on the issue, but the military was at the time openly encouraging people to break a rule, just don't tell us. Now they openly accept the situation. My point is maybe even the military can look at rules, see they don't make sense and adapt.
Wahoo is absolutely perfect though.
April 25th, 2014 at 10:50 AM ^
adults are better than that at weighing their priorities and don't purposely break the rules and then play victim.
Are you serious? I work in a building with 700 other people. About 650 are old people. I disagree entirely that "adults" by default behave in the manner you portray. Mitch isn't playing victim. He acknowledges that he broke a rule and would face punishment; he's just peeved about sentencing. I've been consistent in my position that the stupidity of a rule doesn't justify breaking it and expecting no consequences. The offender should face SOME consequence even if the rule is dumb and steps should be taken to remove it. However, when the consequences are Eighth-Amendment disproportionate, I fully endorse dismissive wanking motions and trident-throwing on that end.
April 25th, 2014 at 10:48 AM ^
adults are better than that at weighing their priorities and don't purposely break the rules and then play victim.
If this were true there would be little recreational drug use except among minors. We would need less traffic enforcement. The IRS could cut its staff by 80%. There would be little need for internet filters like Websense.
Realistically, this is an idealistic standard and I don't see it in the world I live in. Adults take chances all the time, ignoring and bending the rules, particularly the ones they think lack reasonableness.
Most of the time it's fine because they don't get caught, or, if they do, the consequences are lighter than what they could be.
Whatever you think of pot-smoking or Mitch McGary, is he really such an outlier?
April 25th, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^
In my experience, adults aren't really that much better at making decisions. They're just better at not getting caught and/or avoiding the consequences.
April 25th, 2014 at 10:49 AM ^
Wahoo, get off your high horse. You'll need much more luck in your own life if this post refects the narrowminded, judgemental way you think about how other people make decisions.
April 25th, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^
This doesn't do a very nice job of anything except makng the NCAA look absolutely absurd in its arbitrary enforcement of penalties. This is the classic low hanging fruit. Why not make some real effort to go after the nonsense going on in Columbus and the SEC. Oh, that would be hard.
April 25th, 2014 at 10:53 AM ^
The absolute worst. How many adults ALWAYS break the rules...it happens daily. Hell, some of the most successful adults on this planet got there by breaking the rules. Get off your freaking high horse.
April 25th, 2014 at 10:56 AM ^
"if someone thinks smoking a plant is more important than the benefits of their scholarship, then I don't have a lot of respect for those priorities."
He didn't lose the benefits of his scholarship he chose to give them up after the penalty was handed down. If he was caught by the team, he would also not lose the benefits of his scholarship, he would have been suspended for a week.
Here I thought the goal of Michigan and the NCAA is to help grow and mold these young athletes into productive members of society. He broke one rule, which I view to be a minor one, and got hammered for it. Who exactly benefits from this punishment, what does Mitch learn here, other than the NCAA doesn't actually care about their athletes. To benefit and enforce priorities, the punishment needs to fit the crime, in this case it does not.
Next time you want to get up on your high horse, you may also want to take the "win the game" tagline out, because if I didn't know any better I would think you are supporting Mitch and therefore are a supporter of drug usage amoungst America's youth.
April 25th, 2014 at 10:58 AM ^
Nobody is arguing he broke a rule. We're arguing:
Drink and Drive: Run stairs, sit out a half of a football game.
Smoke a joint: 1-year suspension.
April 25th, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^
That's a pretty high pedestal you're standing on.
The nature of a miscarriage of justice is the victim is often a guilty party. The State of Michigan could decide to use this failed drug test as proof of marijuana possession, which carries a maximum sentence of 1 year (lawyers correct me if I'm mistaken). Doing this, however, would be considered totally injust, and McGary the victim of that injustice.
The NCAA's crime is far, far greater than any McGary admitted to. Mitch did a thing (tried pot once in college) that society has judged to be somewhere between tsk-tsk and not as bad as jaywalking. You can't even claim he was letting his teammates down (like a couple former hockey players of were doing persistently) because he was only dressed for the Tennessee game as a motivational thing--he wasn't going to do anything more than root for his team from a seat. I doubt he was the only Michigan fan in the building with THC in his bloodstream, to the detriment of exactly nobody. Comparatively the NCAA decided to enforce the letter of a rule it found so draconian they had already agreed to change it, and decided that appeal with full knowledge that it meant the end of McGary's college career. Fucking with a man's life is a HORRIBLE thing to do.
April 25th, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
How does the NCAA change the rule weeks after their judgement and not respond to an appeal?
They are essentially admitting to the rule's unfairness!!!
April 25th, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^
Well said. Denying the appeal is especially absurd. Even with all of that context they decided, "No, really, let's fuck this guy up."
April 25th, 2014 at 11:26 AM ^
Roughly 2 out of every 5 American adults have smoked pot at some point. I have worked in a number of professional environments, and a reasonably high number of these successful professionals smoke pot occasionally. It's not just something that derelicts do. And there is no evidence that pot is significantly addictive, or causes a significant decrease in athletic ability (just look at Michael Phelps!).
Everybody knows that smoking pot isn't good for you health-wise, and might hurt your cognitive performance (at least in the short term). Well, the same is true of alcohol. Would you be bitching and moaning if McGary were caught having a few beers?
April 25th, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^
Smoking pot can be very good for your health. Multiple studies in Europe have shown a link between consumption and decreases in cancer cells. There is widespread use of marijuana to control seizures. It is a great alternative to opiate derivatives for dealing with chronic pain. Just sayin'...
April 25th, 2014 at 12:21 PM ^
Alcohol is also illegal for most college students (i.e., those under 21). Should the NCAA ban underage atheletes for a year for having a drink?
April 25th, 2014 at 12:29 PM ^
I didn't say the rule was a good one. I didn't say the NCAA should ban people for a year for a drug test, though it sure sounds like there are some people who believe that what I said basically amounts to the same thing. If you're not with us on one aspect you're against us on all aspects. Nor does my opinion have anything to do with the comparative health effects of alcohol and marijuana. What I said was that Mitch decided to smoke knowing the rule was in place not to, which is something I don't have a lot of sympathy for.
After all, college is all about strictly following rules and not trying anything new.
there straw man. Maize and Blue Wahoo is taking a serious beating here and I don't see how it is at all deserved. This is a shitty situation for player and fan alike but the fact remains, the responsibility here lies with Mitch McGary. You don't get to avoid the consequences of breaking a rule because you don't like the rule. I am upset for McGary and because I won't get to see him play in a Michigan uniform anymore, but he is not absolved of the responsibility of breaking this rule at this time because "everybody breaks rules in college." That is a much more ridiculous position than Maize and Blue Wahoo has set forth.
Sometimes extra privileges come with extra responsibility. That's a principle that's in no way limited to the NCAA.
April 25th, 2014 at 11:34 AM ^
No, Mitch does not come off like an adult, because adults are better than that at weighing their priorities and don't purposely break the rules and then play victim.
Gosh, there are whole groups of politicians, priests, football coaches (PSU) and many other public figures that would disagree with that. How many times have we seen intelligent adults blow up an ideal situation, job or office because they did a stupid thing that, if caught, would ruin their career? And most of those examples are much more egegrious, many with damages or harm to others. And yet you are going to go overboard for Mitch smoking some weed in college? I agree it wasn't a smart decision but I hardly think we can hold up adults as our shining examples of never breaking any rules. And Mitch "took his medicine" much more responsibly than I have seen from many of these "adults."
April 25th, 2014 at 11:40 AM ^
I've personally never heard of this rule being enforced before. Drug tests are random, and NCAA drug tests are especially rare. Not to mention I would guess varsity athletes are given all sorts of ways around actually taking tests.
My point being that yes this is technically a rule, but if it's never really been enforced in the however many years it's been on the books... is it still really fair to say Mitch should have taken it into consideration?
April 25th, 2014 at 11:45 AM ^
April 25th, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^
strikes so many bad cords its almost not even worth replying to. HOWEVA, how many out there have smoked pot or any of its various forms medical or otherwise? Lets see, all of the baby boomers....75% of the gen Xers and most of the millenials too. So if they suspended all of us from college for a year would that have impacted our lives adversly? A long time ago while interviewing for a federal job along with 200 highly qualified applicants, all with college degrees and most with military backgrounds, for 4 positions, the question was posed, now if you have had any drugs in the last 2 months we are going to drug test and that will be on your permanent file that will follow you everywhere the rest of your life, so before we do that you can simply walk away now. 198 people got up and walked out-and yes its a true story. Yea this action by the NCAA simply shows how they are not relevant at all and need to go away. Smoking pot now or in the past is not a character flaw anymore than having a drink or going on the internet.
April 25th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
April 25th, 2014 at 12:34 PM ^
I take back what I said yesterday when I argued the discourse wasn't as bad as some people believe it is. The fact that anyone upvotes you for that is living proof that we are becoming MLive and that people really like it that way.
But the way you're acting on this thread is infuriating almost everyone. Maybe you should back off? '
FTR, I haven't downvoted you here, though I very strongly disagree with you...
The way I'm acting?
I stated an unpopular opinion and even backed down from part of it. I haven't told anyone to fuck off, whined about being negged, called a single poster any names, or gone on a downvote rampage. I don't mind one bit that people disagree or even that they use the down arrow to express it. But can we at a bare minimum separate unpopular opinions from acting like a dick? If the MGoCommunity wants to improve the level of discourse, the least they could do is not upvote posts that are nothing but "you're an asshole."
I haven't told anyone to fuck off, whined about being negged, called a single poster any names, or gone on a downvote rampage.Those aren't the limits of dickish behavior. Yes, people shouldn't rage out when unpopular opinions are being expressed, but yours isn't merely an unpopular opinion and you expressed it in an extremely pompous way. "Just sayin'" is a cheap, smug way to be a douche and "play the victim" (as you so eloquently put it) when people call a spade a spade.
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