Mike DeCourcy, who for the most part we've come to truly
respect, has an article on on Bob Huggins which argues the line of "well
at least he gave kids a chance."
Yeah, well.
Giving kids a chance is one thing. Duke did that with
Chris Carrawell, who had a tough life before coming to Durham. John Cheney does
it every year.
That college basketball offers an avenue to a lot of
African-American kids who otherwise might not find a path to the middle class
(or beyond, for those few who find NBA riches) is something to be proud of.
But because Art Long has made a living playing basketball
doesn't mean that his scholarship at Cincinnati was justified.
As DeCourcy admits, the kid had several brushes with the law
and apparently some severe personal problems as well.
Are those reasons to keep someone out of college? Not
necessarily. Lots of people with those issues go to college, some of
course while they are in prison or in counseling or therapy.
But if the goal is simply to play basketball and make a
living, then there are other avenues.
It's great that Art Long can make a living in Qatar, but there
were other kids in his class who would have taken the scholarship, helped the
basketball team, and graduated. Art Long is making a good living, but someone
else could have, too. And that's unfortunate, to say the least.