Reggie Lynch In Jail ... UPDATE: Released without charges

I like Richard but this does hurt the bball program image even if not true. His dad booted Chris Jones after he was arrested in a he said she said in which he was eventually cleared. Louisville was an elite 8 team and could have beat MSU with Jones. All this hurt the team/recruiting and this was prior to the sex scandal bombshell that hit. Rick has survived because he has won. Richard is hanging on with the large buyout. I hope this does not impact the current recruits or future recruits but it did in louisville.

http://www.courier-journal.com/stor...ar-chris-jones-refocuses-basketball/27556479/
 

I think you are confusing the way that we are talking about blame. For the action of criminal sexual conduct itself (IF true) the blame is solely on Reggie Lynch and no one else. For the black eye that it gives to the Gopher basketball program (IF true) well that blame is more spread around.

Why? Reggie gave the program the black eye, nobody else. Do you expect Richard to follow these guys around every weekend? The athletes already have speakers and programs in relation to safe sex and consent. It's Reggie's fault the program has the black eye.
 

The ghost of Reid Travis appears again. Great kid. Natural leader. We lost big time on multiple levels not getting him. One wonders if having a high character guy like that who was also a good player would have helped in creating the culture that we all wish we had in the program.
One of the reasons he did not end up here was the family's concerns about bad influences on their son on the Gopher roster.
 


Weighing in on the cultural argument here. You are correct that culture starts at the top in an organization, but it begins long before the guys get to campus in their families, high schools and club teams. I can't speak specifically to where any of these guys come from, but in general elite basketball players are a very unaccountable bunch and the culture feeds it. Most of these guys have been wooed and recruited since they were middle schoolers and told they were just great. Egos grow and along with that comes the arrogance to believe that you can do anything on the court and off.

I know the father of a D-1 player from a generation ago whose son was a good young man, but who fumed at how his son was treated in "having everything handed to him" because he was a good ball player (borderline NBA). He never got in trouble or embarrassed his school, but the cultural environment did little to prepare him for adult life. He struggled when his career was over while his siblings without the hoops skills have all been successful because they had to work for it.

These cultural issues need to be addressed from the beginning, not just in a locker room at a high major institution. It's a no-brainer that they need to treat women with respect, but when they have been told they can have anything they want for a decade prior to getting to campus, the word "no" doesn't sink in easily. It's a poison we have created in a lot of places, but it is especially prominent in the sports culture. Someone needs to remind all these guys from an early age that commencement speech from a couple years ago that said, "You're not special." Better yet, maybe even remind them that true esteem comes from being a virtuous person and contributing member of the community and not their jump shot. As long as they are pampered and can help someone succeed or move up the career ladder, it will be hard to eradicate the poison.
You've got it right here. We have a friend who was a Big Ten point guard in the 60's and when we took him to a game with us, that (over-inflated egos) is all he could talk about.


We were all excited about Lynch with his Minnesota sports roots - I feel terrible about this. And I feel for Pitino. If there was a way to see this coming (except that something is always coming) I don't know what it would be.
 


Why? Reggie gave the program the black eye, nobody else. Do you expect Richard to follow these guys around every weekend? The athletes already have speakers and programs in relation to safe sex and consent. It's Reggie's fault the program has the black eye.

Reggie...and Daquein...and Kevin...and to an extent Nate and Dupree...and Carlos for different reasons. The point is that it is not about one individual situation. If it were one individual situation then it would not be an issue. One is an outlier, five is a pattern. A leader is not responsible for individual issues, but when patterns exist (especially bad ones) it is on the leader to make changes to address those patterns. And if the leader can't figure it out then maybe it is time for someone else to lead.

Here is how it works:

This is no different than corporate America. If you make a few bad hiring decisions in a row the blame starts to fall on you at some point and rightfully so. Even if those hires were well-vetted it still calls into question the qualifications that you look for, the quality of your background check process, the procedures in place to train new hires, the attitude of the rest of your subordinates, your management style, etc. And if your company starts losing money too (aka losing games in basketball) then the pressure will come down on you even more. Anyone who has worked for a couple years knows these things.
 

One of the reasons he did not end up here was the family's concerns about bad influences on their son on the Gopher roster.

That is BS. At the time Travis Reid made his decision, none of these guys who've gotten in trouble were on the team, except Nate Mason who was valedictorian of his HS. The team was led by guys like Hollins, Hollins, King, etc.
 

Fire Pitino because a player, with no history of anything similar to this, and who by all accounts was a very good character kid, commits a crime? Did Pitino cover it up? Did Pitino tell him to do it? If not, shut up about firing the coach.

This, sometimes things are out of a person's control.
 

There is a lot more to culture than doling out punishments. I'm not saying this should all fall on Pitino, because it is true that he can't follow them around 24/7. But the simple fact that he has doled out punishments does not mean he's done a good job setting the culture. A culture is set with what is said and done inside the locker room long before an incident happens. A good culture exists when a team respects their coaching staff and teammates enough to make good decisions off the court so as not to make their coaches and teammates look bad in the first place. Doesn't mean that there won't be a slip-up every now and then, but look at sheer number of issues over the last couple years -- this is more than a slip-up or two.

Also, as far as punishments go, I'm not really so sure Pitino is in control of most of these punishments. When a player is arrested for criminal sexual conduct I would assume it is athletic department policy to suspend them until the investigation is complete. I don't think that players' coach has much of a choice. And as far as the threesome, Pitino publicly said he thought they would be back after one game. Then all of a sudden a couple days later the suspensions were extended for the remainder of the season. Common sense indicated that those suspensions were controlled by the athletic department and not the team.

Agree 100%. Players don't get into trouble because A: they are choirboys, or B: because they respect and/or fear the consequences of getting in trouble.

From the outside looking in, it certainly appears as if the Gopher men's BB players do not respect or fear the coaches. At this point, they have to know they are walking around with huge targets on their back. If I was Pitino, I would be hammering on them 24/7 that they have to be extra-careful to stay out of situations that could lead to trouble. the fact that they keep getting into these situations mean that Pitino is not sending the right message, or the players aren't listening.
 



Could just be a scorn woman...getting back at him for telling her off. No one knows. Let's wait til tomorrow and see

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Reggie...and Daquein...and Kevin...and to an extent Nate and Dupree...and Carlos for different reasons. The point is that it is not about one individual situation. If it were one individual situation then it would not be an issue. One is an outlier, five is a pattern. A leader is not responsible for individual issues, but when patterns exist (especially bad ones) it is on the leader to make changes to address those patterns. And if the leader can't figure it out then maybe it is time for someone else to lead.

Here is how it works:

This is no different than corporate America. If you make a few bad hiring decisions in a row the blame starts to fall on you at some point and rightfully so. Even if those hires were well-vetted it still calls into question the qualifications that you look for, the quality of your background check process, the procedures in place to train new hires, the attitude of the rest of your subordinates, your management style, etc. And if your company starts losing money too (aka losing games in basketball) then the pressure will come down on you even more. Anyone who has worked for a couple years knows these things.

This is the best take I've read, by a wide margin, on the current situation with the basketball program.
 

Agree 100%. Players don't get into trouble because A: they are choirboys, or B: because they respect and/or fear the consequences of getting in trouble.

From the outside looking in, it certainly appears as if the Gopher men's BB players do not respect or fear the coaches. At this point, they have to know they are walking around with huge targets on their back. If I was Pitino, I would be hammering on them 24/7 that they have to be extra-careful to stay out of situations that could lead to trouble. the fact that they keep getting into these situations mean that Pitino is not sending the right message, or the players aren't listening.
I'm inclined to agree here
 

I'm inclined to agree here

The issue isn't the lack of fear of coaches, but rather the lack of fear (or respect of) the law. Getting kicked off of a basketball team is peanuts compared to facing years in prison. What can a coach say other than "if you do this, you will go to jail" ??? A suspension is nothing compared to prison.

There is a trend which is alarming, but Pitino is in no way responsible for any of these individual legal issues. A coach's job is not and should not be to teach a kid how not sexually harass women. That **** is on every single individual. Say what you want, but this trend was in place before Pitino got here. How many nights did I see Devoe Joseph and Royce White groping women at McD's? Too many to count. But they weren't the only college dudes doing the same thing. I think this is bigger than a basketball problem and that it is a general campus culture problem.


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I think this is bigger than a basketball problem and that it is a general culture problem.


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FIFY. Remove the word "campus" and insert whatever culture you want to insert.
 

If it turns out Lynch was falsely accused, which believe it or not, does happen sometimes, are some people still going to blame Pitino? If he had done a better background check, he would have predicted Lynch would be falsely accused of rape, right? Maybe we should just let this play out.
 

Strib updated their story. Still not much being said publicly. We'll know more in about 15 hours...

"According to the police report, Lynch was arrested at 2:30 a.m. Sunday for an alleged rape of a 19-year-old woman three hours earlier. Lynch was booked at 1:24 p.m. Sunday.

Police interviewed four people, none of whom was a suspect or witness, during the process. The alleged victim received medical treatment following the incident, which occurred at a residence hall, Wilkins Hall, on the 1200 block of University Avenue, according to the report."

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...ailed-u-leaders-decline-interviews/378682491/
 

I'm curious how many of the sanctimonious people who think Pitino should be fired for something awful his player is alleged to have done during his free time in the offseason thought it was totally fine that Mbakwe played here after being charged with a felony for punching a woman?
 

I'm curious how many of the sanctimonious people who think Pitino should be fired for something awful his player is alleged to have done during his free time in the offseason thought it was totally fine that Mbakwe played here after being charged with a felony for punching a woman?
I've read every post in this thread, and I don't recall any that said it is now time to fire Pitino. Those who have indicated concerns have mentioned multiple incidents, not just this one.
 

I've read every post in this thread, and I don't recall any that said it is now time to fire Pitino. Those who have indicated concerns have mentioned multiple incidents, not just this one.

try posts #1,9,30,31, 50 and 51 for starters. They all ask for him to be fired. They don't say by the time the clock strikes midnight but these posts call for his head.
 

I'm curious how many of the sanctimonious people who think Pitino should be fired for something awful his player is alleged to have done during his free time in the offseason thought it was totally fine that Mbakwe played here after being charged with a felony for punching a woman?

I would probably fall into the category of who you are talking to so I will answer:
1) I'm not advocating for Pitino to be fired. Not opposed to that move, but I'm fine if he gets one more chance. If this situation doesn't turn out well for Lynch then it is possible the BOR forces the athletic department to pull the plug on him, and I don't think that would be the wrong choice.
2) This isn't about one issue with one player. After the McNeil arrest I wasn't happy, but didn't put that on Pitino at the time. There was no pattern yet. It just appeared one player had gone off the rails. After the Threesome and now Lynch arrest...well, there is a pattern of player conduct issues that I don't like. Something needs to change. It doesn't necessarily need to be letting Pitino go, but he needs to change something about how he is evaluating players, what he teaches them about off-court conduct, the way he interacts with them, or something else. I don't have enough inside knowledge to say what specific area needs help, but no Gopher fan would tell you that all these types of off-court issues are totally okay. My point is that whatever he is doing clearly isn't working. It's fine if a player has to be suspended for a game for missing class or having a bad attitude at practice -- that is normal for a D1 basketball program. But over the past year or so there have been multiple issues with multiple players that are much more serious than that.
 

I've read every post in this thread, and I don't recall any that said it is now time to fire Pitino. Those who have indicated concerns have mentioned multiple incidents, not just this one.

I'm not of the opinion that we fire him now, if only because there's no way any coach worth a darn would take the job while the gang of 16 stumbles and bumbles towards choosing their boss. But the writing is on the wall. Pitino's path to be employed on 4/1/17 was already narrow and it just shrunk to a tightrope. Good luck, Richard. I sincerely hope you pull it off.
 

That is BS. At the time Travis Reid made his decision, none of these guys who've gotten in trouble were on the team, except Nate Mason who was valedictorian of his HS. The team was led by guys like Hollins, Hollins, King, etc.

I heard directly from a family member, so eat me.
 

I guess it is a good thing that alumni with money are treated like crap. If they weren't, then one would step up with the $7 million to buy out Pitino's contract and give the next AD a chance to make an immediate impact on a high profile sport.

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I certainly want to wait for the fact to come out before passing judgement on this case. That said, if a crime was committed, we really need to start asking questions about Pitino's leadership. At some point, it is not just one or two bad apples, it is a systemic cultural problem. At this point, what percentage of players brought in by Pitino who are no longer with the program had their careers end for some reason besides either running out of eligibility or career-ending injury/health issue? Whatever Pitino is doing in terms of recruitment /player retention is a joke. This program is humiliating us both on and off the court.
 

,Jim Dutcher took the fall and his teams were actually competitive. Just saying.
At some point excuses have to stop.
 

McNeal
Teague
Threesome
Lynch

Teague and the threesome are in no way similar to the other two yet they are similar, especially in a media hot take way. I look for the deviance of Minnesota basketball to become a national story. I suspect places like Deadpan are just waiting to see if Lynch gets charged.
 

Everyone will forget about all this when we make tourney this coming season.
 

Everyone will forget about all this when we make tourney this coming season.
Well, every team makes the B1G tournament, so I have my doubts about the veracity of that statement.

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