On Friday the University of Cincinnati suspended starting forward Yancy Gates indefinitely for violating team rules. Coach Mick Cronin said he has three basic rules for his team. “Play hard, have a great attitude and be a good guy.” Cronin said “Gates violated all three team rules.” Gates is the Bearcats second leading scorer at (11.4) points a game and the team’s leading rebounder at (6.9) rebounds a game. Gates did not make the trip to Pittsburgh where the Bearcats fell 71-59 to number 4 ranked Panthers. Coach Cronin said that he was disappointed in Gates and the rest of the team should be as well. Gates a 6-9 forward out of nearby Withrow High School came to UC as a promising recruit but with inconsistency and lack of effort issues he has wasted a golden opportunity. Cronin’s belief was that it should be a privilege to play for Cincinnati or any other school. The kids feel that they are doing the team a favor by being around not realizing that if the player doesn’t want to be there then somebody else will gladly take their spot. Coach Cronin was obviously frustrated because Gates was going to be a big piece of the puzzle that takes the Bearcats back to the NCAA tournament. The Bearcats haven’t made the playoffs since 2005 when former coach Bob Huggins was fired. Cronin said he no plans to meet with Gates and no time table was set for his return.

If you are a fan of Cincinnati then this has to feel like déjà vu all over again. The University of Cincinnati has had their troubles with players in the past abiding by team rules or staying out of trouble with the law. If you’re a UC fan then you remember the troubling Donald Little situation and everything that transpired from that. The Bearcats always had a stigma of being a team that recruits thugs or players that other teams think might be a problem player. That was one of the big reasons former coach Bob Huggins was fired from his position among other things. The University of Cincinnati gets a bad rap because every school has troubles with players. The problems always seem to follow UC and they can never catch a break. This was supposed to be the year UC makes it back to the big dance after a consecutive 14 year run. The details of the suspension are sketchy right now but it looks like he got into an argument with an assistant coach at practice which was the final straw. I never really seen something this drastic coming from Gates but anything can happen and people grow up in different ways. It really makes it hard to defend a team when there are numerous incidents to defend.

The problem with young adults these days is they don’t realize the opportunity they have and waste it because they feel entitled. That shouldn’t be the case and they need a rude awakening to show them the correct way of handling business. In College Athletics everything is big business and you have to applaud Cronin for suspending one of his best players. Cronin was quoted as saying “It’s not hard to be a Bearcat. You either do it that way or you don’t play for us. It doesn’t matter who you are.” There are some coaches and teams that would of just dealt with this and let him still play but that is one thing wrong with College Athletics today. What are you trying to teach these kids that it’s ok to challenge authority or pout when they don’t get what they want? That’s not the way a grown up acts or the way they should go about being an adult. The Washington Wizards have started to fine star guard John Wall when he pouts or gets mad when he doesn’t get his way. That is the prime example of a superstar Prima Donna. You have to wonder if Coach Calipari could of fixed this when Wall was at Kentucky. The way you act on a daily basis is something that you do all the time and not just develop one day. This had to be something that went on at Kentucky and was swept under the rug so Kentucky could keep winning games. That does help your job status but that sends the wrong message to kids that you’re supposed to be teaching not only basketball but what it takes to be a man. College Athletics needs to get away of what it says on the scoreboard and start molding these young men to be better adults and overall people. Winning in sports is great but winning in life is something that is far greater than anything you can accomplish in sports. In this day and age we need more coaches like Mick Cronin.