Abreu Wants to Return to UA Basketball

[Dave in Green]

Skip, I feel your pain. I don't understand why more people don't get my point.

But, seriously, I think you have an educated perspective on a lot of issues related to college basketball. I'd really be interested in having you address my point about Alex voluntarily admitting to transgressions that he wasn't even accused of.

[LZIp]

I think Quincy Diggs was the perfect example of a player who "wanted" to come back, especially after being screwed over. Could not be happier for him. Not sure I buy into the other guy "wanting" to come back, but rather maybe "wishing".

Also, two words: plea deal.

[akronzips71]

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.

There is nothing "techincal" about it. It is illegal, and it is a Felony. Period.

[akronzips71]

Skip, I feel your pain. I don't understand why more people don't get my point.

But, seriously, I think you have an educated perspective on a lot of issues related to college basketball. I'd really be interested in having you address my point about Alex voluntarily admitting to transgressions that he wasn't even accused of.

He was too stupid to keep his mouth shut and ask for a lawyer. Not too impressive for someone with almost three years of college under his belt.

[ZachTheZip]

Assuming he is even allowed back on campus, he'll have to pay his own way. There aren't any scholarships available.

[skip-zip]

Skip, I feel your pain. I don't understand why more people don't get my point.

But, seriously, I think you have an educated perspective on a lot of issues related to college basketball. I'd really be interested in having you address my point about Alex voluntarily admitting to transgressions that he wasn't even accused of.

Dave, I actually have family that have worked in law enforcement, and one surprising thing that they've always told me is that people often talk and provide more information once they know that they are busted. So, I actually don't know what to make out of the fact that he divulged more details. Do they do it because they truly feel guilt? Or, are they hoping for sympathy if they come clean? If he did it because he felt guilt, then yes, I think that shows something about his character, but how do we know?

But, I will continue to contend that the continual remarks describing it as "a mistake", when the crimes involved a complex and repeated series of events, really makes me question the level of remorse.

Wasn't his plea bargain the reason why he only has one count attached to his record?

[Zipmeister]

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

I may be interested in participating in this wager. How many American dollars do you consider to be a "good chunk of money"?

[zippy5]

Those were proverbial dollars

[Dave in Green]

Skip, thanks for your thoughtful response. On the plea deal issue, he was originally charged for both trafficking and for drug abuse marijuana relating to the single incident where he was caught. As you surely know from your family law enforcement connections, it's standard procedure to file multiple charges on the same offense to leverage the exchange of dropping one charge for a guilty plea to another charge. The other person in this case was charged with the same two offenses and had the same one dropped when he pled guilty to the primary charge.

I think we all become a little smarter when many give their take on a situation that we all see a little differently. That's the benefit of collaborative discussion. For example, several different positive and negative interpretations have been presented of why he might have voluntarily admitted to previous incidents that authorities weren't even aware of. Since none of us really knows Alex that well off the basketball court, we can only speculate on which is more likely.

And that's what keeps bringing me back to the fact that any decision on whether Alex returns is best made by those who know him best. The offense that was committed should not in itself determine the answer to that question unless there's an existing rule by the NCAA, UA or Zips team that automatically permanently disqualifies a student athlete for what Alex admitted to. Each individual case should be judged on its individual merits. Everything we've been discussing here and more will be considered in making a decision on Alex's status.

[ZipsBurgh]

Here is video of Abreu's speech at the event. I haven't watched it yet, but figured I'd post it.

[tboned]

My son is a student at St. V-M, Alex was at the school last week encouraging members of the B-ball team to make good life decisions.

[skip-zip]

Skip, thanks for your thoughtful response. On the plea deal issue, he was originally charged for both trafficking and for drug abuse marijuana relating to the single incident where he was caught. As you surely know from your family law enforcement connections, it's standard procedure to file multiple charges on the same offense to leverage the exchange of dropping one charge for a guilty plea to another charge. The other person in this case was charged with the same two offenses and had the same one dropped when he pled guilty to the primary charge.

I think we all become a little smarter when many give their take on a situation that we all see a little differently. That's the benefit of collaborative discussion. For example, several different positive and negative interpretations have been presented of why he might have voluntarily admitted to previous incidents that authorities weren't even aware of. Since none of us really knows Alex that well off the basketball court, we can only speculate on which is more likely.

And that's what keeps bringing me back to the fact that any decision on whether Alex returns is best made by those who know him best. The offense that was committed should not in itself determine the answer to that question unless there's an existing rule by the NCAA, UA or Zips team that automatically permanently disqualifies a student athlete for what Alex admitted to. Each individual case should be judged on its individual merits. Everything we've been discussing here and more will be considered in making a decision on Alex's stat

Yep, people who know more than us will be making that decision. And that's the way it should be. I just don't like the idea from what I am reading and hearing.

[Dr Z]

Nice find ZipsBurgh, thanks for posting. Did he almost apologize to the fans at 2:45? Or did he say he was going to?

[GP1]

I'm not sure I trust anyone with being able to pull that off at UA, with the exception of Tressel.

Rumor has it that as soon as he gets done solving the radiation problem at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, he will solve this problem

[Balsy]

I'm pretty sure he said something like "I would like to apologize to...because I feel terrible."...idk, call me a cynic...I'm not buying it. The part that sealed the deal for me was when I read the quote from the ABJ that said something about finding and accepting Jesus...blah, blah. Anytime I hear someone say that, a red flag goes up. It's a PR 101 buzz phrase; designed to play on people's feelings and sensibilities rather than rely on rational thought and evidence.

@GP1 let it be known I'm not a JT fan, however I trust him over Worthless-cil to market an ill-fated come back.

[K92]

Rumor has it that as soon as he gets done solving the radiation problem at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, he will solve this problem

[LZIp]

something to think about- I keep reading "those who know best need to make the decision to bring him back" Now please let me know if I am off base, but I am assuming this is in reference to KD and/or the AD or whoever else. My statement is that it's apparent none of these guys "knew/know" him considering what went down.

[UAZip0510]

something to think about- I keep reading "those who know best need to make the decision to bring him back" Now please let me know if I am off base, but I am assuming this is in reference to KD and/or the AD or whoever else. My statement is that it's apparent none of these guys "knew/know" him considering what went down.

I'm not sure you know 100% of anyone. Maybe a spouse, but beyond that it's unlikely. Dambrot doesn't know everything about Alex, but I'm sure he knows him well enough to know if he's truly turned a corner in his life and if he's sincere in his effort to make amends or if he just wants to play basketball to try to make money (I always thought he was good enough to play overseas).

Keith Dambrot takes this program's reputation very, very seriously. I trust him 100% to make the correct decision.

[Dave in Green]

@LZip, consider that if the people who know someone best aren't always right about them, how much less right are people likely to be who know the person even less. It's an imperfect world. When we're young and idealistic we tend to get outraged at all the things in the world that are going wrong and want to blame others for being imperfect. As we grow older and begin adding up all the mistakes we make in our own lives and in our judgments about other people and things, we begin to appreciate just how imperfect everything is. As hard as we may strive for perfection, we're all doomed to failure. We just have to try to do the best we can and hope that others forgive our flaws. Likewise we need to be understanding of the imperfections of others. All we can ask of anyone is to always try to do the right thing and hope that it works out that way more often than not.