Stoneburner and Mewhort have athletic scholarships removed.

Submitted by CoachBuczekFHS on

ESPN.com is reporting that Jake Stoneburner and Jack Mewhort have had their athletic scholarships removed after being charged with obstruction of official police business. They pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of disorderly conduct. Urban Meyer has stated that they will have a chance to "earn" their scholarships back after the summer. My question is simple... Is this a real punishment? Or, is this a "Hey, as long as you don't do anything else dumb you'll be in uniform game one." type of situation. Link: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8059261/coach-urban-meyer-removes-scholarships-two-ohio-state-buckeyes

Ventilator

June 16th, 2012 at 5:53 AM ^

Definitely only temporarily, they'll be on the active roster after the Summer term. They will apparently will have to pay out-of-pocket for this term, likely six credit hours. That should leave them with a bill around $1500 each, Ohio has to be around $250 a credit hour. Highly doubt they can register unless that bill is paid. If strings have to be pulled then they will be. Expect them on the field for the first game.

Scarlatina

June 17th, 2012 at 2:10 AM ^

Last I checked OSU is on a quarter system, which means the summer counts as a full quarter. Tuition for a quarter is $3000, unless they are taking less than full-time hours in which case you'd be correct.

I'm just not entirely sure that a ~$1500 estimate is accurate. 

Also, I don't view the monetary payment as the most serious consequence, at least not in the long run. Stoneburner and Mewhort won't be able to practice with their teammates throughout the whole summer. This is especially detrimental to Stoneburner since a new offense is being installed and he needs as many snaps as possible with Braxton to develop chemistry.

Meeeeshigan

June 16th, 2012 at 6:07 AM ^

This seems a bit extreme for public urination/disorderly conduct. College kids make some stupid decisions sometimes--this seems pretty benign, as these things go. I'd be surprised if they don't earn their way back on the team and into their scholarships. And rightly so.

This has the added benefit of making Urban look like he's serious about discipline (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

Mr. Yost

June 16th, 2012 at 9:30 AM ^

He's notorious for playing favorites on his teams...

This sounds a lot worse than it is. While it is a punishment and I commend Meyer...I know he also has a motive behind the punishment and it has nothing to do with the players in questions.

Also, what if these guys decide not to take a full summer course load? What if they're ahead in credits anyway and this just puts them "back" with their regular class? And in the end, they both come from reasonably (or better) well-off families. It's nothing the parents can't take care of.

Cope

June 16th, 2012 at 8:08 AM ^

That's probably like hammer is coming, and...nope you missed it that time. But we'll see. Would they be losing their scholarships during the part of the year that they don't need scholarships and then having them returned once they do? Or will they actually have to pay for something?
Hey, at least they won't be obstructing any police officers for two and a half months...

Ernis

June 16th, 2012 at 7:02 AM ^

So, they lose schollies for bad behavior then have the chance to get them back for good behavior? Or will performance evaluation factor into it? With these two, maybe a moot point, but this method seems ripe for abuse.

Magnus

June 16th, 2012 at 7:09 AM ^

Meyer was known for having criminals at Florida, so I think this is a thinly veiled effort to make people think he's serious about discipline.  The kids will probably get their scholarships back, but hey...Brady Hoke did a similar thing to Darryl Stonum (whose punishment was more serious because he was a repeat offender), and Stonum ended up screwing up again and getting booted.

I say kudos to Meyer for trying to scare the kids straight.

RickH

June 16th, 2012 at 12:19 PM ^

The difference between the Stonum situation and this is that Hoke was trying to teach him a lesson without throwing him to the curb.  He was suspended for the season but had the opportunity to come back if he showed improvement.  Obviously his crime was a lot worse but this is obviously a ploy to make Meyer look "tough" when they really aren't going to miss any games, workouts, etc.  They lose (according to the person above) $1500, at most, which can easily be paid for by parents or the money they get here and there from "jobs" and charity events.

Magnus

June 16th, 2012 at 2:57 PM ^

So, for guys who did a lesser crime and aren't repeat offenders, they're essentially getting fined $1,500.  Yeah, I know the situations are different (season vs. offseason, etc.), but as someone else said, we would be totally in support of Brady Hoke and proclaiming his stern disciplinarian role if this were Michigan.

LSAClassOf2000

June 16th, 2012 at 7:56 AM ^

"They can work out at the team's facility but not with their fellow teammates during the summer."

To me, that means that the chances of them being able to make a relatively seamless transition back to being scholarship athletes is pretty high, so this definitely seems like a temporary move.

Nonetheless, discipline, even if during a part of the year when a move such as this seems a bit disingenuous (given the history of Meyer and discipline), is discipline and I will give Meyer a little credit for trying to impress upon these kids that the scholarship is a privilige that can be removed (or at least  giving people the impression that this is the idea). 

 

chitownblue2

June 16th, 2012 at 7:50 AM ^

Does this also mean they have to pay for school until re-instated?

That strikes me as a real, and perhaps overly-harsh punishment for peeing outside.

Blue boy johnson

June 16th, 2012 at 8:31 AM ^

I think it's the flee not the pee that is causing the harshness of the penalty. Based on legal language, I'd be hard pressed to find a guy who hasn't urinated in public, however I am acquainted with very few gents who have attempted to flee a police officer.

Blue boy johnson

June 16th, 2012 at 10:51 AM ^

Point taken, still, I can't ever remember fleeing police in their endeavor of breaking up a party. Most party's I went to were keggers; No reason to futily attempt to evade anyone on such occasions.

74polSKA

June 16th, 2012 at 8:20 AM ^

I know Stoneburner's parents are very wealthy (they live on the course where the Memorial Tournament is held) , so maybe this is just a chance for Urbs to look like a disciplinarian and free up a scholarship at the same time. Isn't he a Senior too? He can become the example of dedication to the team. Jake has bought in so much he has literally bought in to the program.

Edit: I guess the scholarship idea makes less sense if he is a Senior, but I'm sure something shady is happening.

yoyo

June 16th, 2012 at 8:37 AM ^

I dislike OSU but Stoneburner has given his all for the team and for him to even have the threat (even if it's a weak threat) to lose his scholarship over something like this is stupid.  I'd understand if he had a DUI or was caught with an AK47 (like clarett) but for peeing on a wall?  This doesn't make me respect Urban Meyer, I hate him even more.

Urban Warfare

June 16th, 2012 at 9:07 PM ^

After they were in jail, Mewhort wanted to call Meyer and tell him about the situation.  Stoneburner tried to stop Mewhort because Meyer would be pissed.  That went on until Mewhort asked a very astute question:  "Do you really want him to find out from someone else?"

It turns out there was a video camera with audio recording them.  The tape was released to the media. 

I'm guessing Urban isn't happy that one of his senior leaders was recorded encouraging players to hide things from him. 

Vllnt

June 16th, 2012 at 8:38 AM ^

Suspended while no team activities are going on. LAME! I bet they are reinstated by the time conditioning and practice starts

ChiBlueBoy

June 16th, 2012 at 8:38 AM ^

If given the same circumstances, Hoke did the same thing, I'd think it was a good move. And in my hypothetical, if the players earned their scholarships back, I'd be happy about the situation overall. Meyer seems to be sending a message, but not being overly harsh for what seems, from the outside, a relatively minor incident compared to much that goes on. I'll give Meyer credit on this one. I hope that he cleans up the program (I'll believe it when I see it, but this looks, again--from the outside, like a positive first step). People like to talk about the respect that each team has for the other in this rivalry, but it's been difficult to have much respect for Ohio or its fan base. I, for one, would like to have a reason to give them more respect, and to also feel like we're competing on a level playing field (forgive the cliche).

Noleverine

June 16th, 2012 at 10:24 AM ^

But they seem to be more lenient with students. A buddy of mine from freshman year peed down the stairs in the stadium in the middle of the Notre Dame game. He got arrested but only got an MIP. While he was locked up we all signed his white board on his door stating we understood we were living near a sex offender (as a joke) but luckily he didn't get the "sex offender" tag. I don't know how he didn't though.