Abreu Wants to Return to UA Basketball

[Blue & Gold]

http://www.ohio.com/news/abreu-wants-to-return-to-university-of-akron-basketball-team-1.467333

[zippy5]

Surprise surprise. I'd bet a good chunk of money he's our PG next year.

[Dr Z]

Missed opportunity to apologize to the fans.

[skip-zip]

You don't become a drug dealer to the proportions described by having a singular lapse in judgment. So, I still have a problem with this continually being passed off as "A Mistake".

[Balsy]

If Alex Abreu returns to this team; after single handedly tanking the best chance this team had to be something special beyond the regular season; I will seriously questioning the decision makers.

[akronzips71]

The shame of it is that we are so desperate for a PG that we would probably take him back.

[mivid12]

I hope he comes back and excels despite the bitterness toward him here.....contrition and second chances are fine by me

[daphrank]

Quote from the article (by a 9 year-old): Asked what he took from Abreu’s comments, he said: “There’s always second chances.”

Great lesson to teach kids (especially at a function titled "Shoot basketballs, not people"): No matter what you do, consequences are temporary.

I, for one, wish Alex Abreu the best and hope he turns/has turned his life around, but "mistakes" have consequences and often times those consequences are (and should be) permanent.

For all those saying that he deserves a second chance consider the following:

1) he has already recevied a second chance by not spending the next two years in prison

2) Everyone should receive a second chance.....after everyone else gets their first chance and I have to believe/hope that a successful D1 basketball program could find a replacement point guard to back-up/support the two we already have on the roster for next season

[Jalapeño Zippy]

I thought it was a good read. I think it was great that he went and spoke to those kids and their parents.

[zen]

Drug trafficking is a felony, right?
It's really hard to imagine him coming back.
There would be an extremely controversial and negative shadow over the program if he did, despite any positive feel-good reporting on him changing his life for the better.

But you have to admit, he hasn't just slinked away in shame, and allowed his life to spiral downward.

Doing events like this for kids and the community must be evidence of character.

Really unfortunately situation.

[Balsy]

I agree that it was good for him to talk to those kids and those parents. But you guys cannot be serious about having him back on the team. People deserve second chances, but second chances don't mean in the exact same position that you were before.

A chance to finish his degree? Absolutely. A chance to compete with the team that he single handedly nearly self-destructed? No. Absolutely not.

It's not just desperate akronzips71, its downright pathetic.

[UAZipster0305]

The shame of it is that we are so desperate for a PG that we would probably take him back.

I hope the decision to take him back or not is made independent of the PG situation. Off-the-court mistakes should require off-the-court amends.

[zippy5]

Alright off your high horses for a second. If he did what he did in Colorado, he'd be an entrepreneur. However, he didn't so he does need to pay for it. But for those saying it's an embarrassment to let him back, c'mon. He's a young guy that made a mistake, and it looks like he's really trying to make it right. We all have made mistakes, mostly to a lesser degree, but not many are going to have to live with them the rest of their lives. If KD thinks it's alright for him to play next season, I don't know who I would be to argue otherwise.

[zen]

Alright off your high horses for a second. If he did what he did in Colorado, he'd be an entrepreneur. However, he didn't so he does need to pay for it. But for those saying it's an embarrassment to let him back, c'mon. He's a young guy that made a mistake, and it looks like he's really trying to make it right. We all have made mistakes, mostly to a lesser degree, but not many are going to have to live with them the rest of their lives. If KD thinks it's alright for him to play next season, I don't know who I would be to argue otherwise.

The fact that it's an embarassment to let him back doesn't change just because you personally don't think it should be.

The media will ride this train every chance it can. The only national coverage the Zips BB team would get barring a run in the tourney would be negative coverage for re-admitting a felon (if that's what he is. I don't really know. I assume that's what's on his record by the posts I've seen).

What difference that makes in decision making is left up to the decision makers. But it's not going to be easy just because some people don't think it should cast a big shadow on the program. Wishing it wasn't that way doesn't change it.

[GP1]

He's a young guy that made a mistake, and it looks like he's really trying to make it right.

While I agree that everyone should get off of their high horses, he didn't just make a mistake. Spilling a cup of water is a mistake that happens in a split second. Let's look at all that had to happen for this "mistake" to take place.

1. He had to be involved with a group of people engaging in illegal behavior on some level.

2. He had to have an idea that he could make money off of illegal behavior.

3. He had reach out to people who could help him engage in illegal behavior.

4. He had to actively reach out to a larger group who could help him execute this illegal behavior.

5. He had to financially support this activity.

These are just a few of the "mistakes" he made. I'm sure if I tried just a little harder, I could think of five more.

daphrank makes a really good point above. His getting off on probation was his second chance. People can get over a felony. Prison time is almost impossible to recover from. He should consider himself lucky. The guy got over with the best defense lawyer in town. Most people with his background would be sitting in prison right now.

Should he play for the Zips again? I guess I can honestly say I don't care. Between the arrest and suspensions the last couple of years, I'm starting to get numb to it. If the Zips had a losing basketball team, my guess is there would be a lot more outrage about it. Winning sure does cure a lot.

[GJGood]

We are talking about a felony, not some altercation with drunken people in a bar or some minor issue of inmaturity that many programs go through, including Akron's the last few years. If Alex truly wants to put this behind him, wouldn't his best bet be to go somewhere else for a fresh start once he is legally able to do so? That would just seem to make the best sense for him.

[zippy5]

I guess my thinking is if KD is okay with it, I am. I'm not going to pretend our team is some morally superior product and he isn't worthy. I watch it for entertainment for the most part. KD knows a lot more about the situation than any of us, and if he thinks Abreu has made things right.. why not? If he doesn't, I also understand. He committed a felony and ruined our season last year.

[GP1]

He committed a felony and ruined our season last year.

Committed a felony is a fact.

Ruined the season is debatable. The Zips won the MAC. If that ruins a season, I'd like to petition to have a player a year arrested for selling pot.

[UAZip0510]

Would it affect anyone's opinion if Alex finished up with Akron as a non-scholarship player?

[Dave in Green]

I want whatever is best for the Zips basketball team, the University of Akron and Alex Abreu. The best solution will not be an easy decision to make because it requires a thorough understanding and evaluation of all the circumstances, not just the partial circumstances that the public is aware of. Everyone from the top executives at UA to the coaching staff to the returning players have to be totally on board with whatever decision is made. If they all believe that Alex is truly reformed and worthy of a second chance with the Zips and UA, that's their decision to make. They should not be influenced by what they think some sports writer might write or some fans might say on a sports forum. They should be focused on doing the right thing for the right reasons based on all the circumstances.

[zen]

Would it affect anyone's opinion if Alex finished up with Akron as a non-scholarship player?

It wouldn't change mine because I tend to fall (personally) on the side who thinks he's probably not a really bad kid. He got his morals twisted and thought he could take a shortcut in life, and if the program really believed he was turned fully around and had the right life perspectives, so would I.

But that doesn't change the problem I brought up. The constant shadow and negative coverage it would cause. Any commentary or reporting on his felony conviction would, at best, be a passing side note; IE: "while he was admitted back to the team, it is not on scholarship..."

Do you think this reduces the damage?

[GP1]

The constant shadow and negative coverage it would cause.

America loves to tear people down and then build them back up again...then start the cycle all over. He could be the type of redemption story ESPN likes to force down our throats all the time. My guess is, with the right effort by UofA, it could be spun as a positive.

[Balsy]

GP1 if anything that makes me even more concerned. From my experience with the mass media, EVERYONE likes to pour on the hater-aide when it comes to Akron. And "with the right effort by UofA"...I'm not sure I trust anyone with being able to pull that off at UA, with the exception of Tressel.

[Dave in Green]

Just to get one thing out of the way, by definition a mistake is synonymous with an error in judgment. Alex made an error in judgment in trafficking in an illegal substance. Since he admitted to multiple incidents, it could be said that he made several similar errors in judgment or he made a compound error in judgment. Call it a mistake, a compound mistake or several similar mistakes. The point being overlooked in that numbers game is that Alex was only caught and charged with a single offense. He voluntarily opened up to authorities when he didn't have to and spilled his guts on everything he had done wrong that the authorities didn't even know about. What does that say about him as a person? To me it says a lot more than a debate over how many mistakes he made.

The real mitigating factor to me is that the substance in question was marijuana. Whatever anyone's personal views are on marijuana, reality is that there has been a sea change in attitude among the public to the point that the majority of Americans now believe that pot should be legal. Several states have already voted to legalize pot, and others are ready to do so. Technically, Alex committed a crime by selling pot in a state where it's currently illegal. In reality, it's easy to look at what's going on in the country and convince yourself that illegally selling pot is not really a major crime against humanity. This would be a whole different story if it involved hard drugs that almost everyone considers dangerous and life-threatening. And that's why I think it's important to try to understand all the fine details and try to put everything in a proper perspective.

[skip-zip]

While I agree that everyone should get off of their high horses, he didn't just make a mistake. Spilling a cup of water is a mistake that happens in a split second. Let's look at all that had to happen for this "mistake" to take place.

1. He had to be involved with a group of people engaging in illegal behavior on some level.

2. He had to have an idea that he could make money off of illegal behavior.

3. He had reach out to people who could help him engage in illegal behavior.

4. He had to actively reach out to a larger group who could help him execute this illegal behavior.

5. He had to financially support this activity.

These are just a few of the "mistakes" he made. I'm sure if I tried just a little harder, I could think of five more.

I know. That's my point. I don't understand why a few people aren't getting this.