[To listen to the audio version, click here: Bacon Final 5.1.14 McGary for Web]
When Mitch McGary played high school basketball in New Hampshire, he was one of the nation’s top recruits. Michigan fans were rightly thrilled when he decided to play for the Wolverines.
In his first NCAA tournament, last spring, McGary played so well folks thought he might jump to the NBA. Instead, he returned for his sophomore year — then injured his back so badly, he needed surgery mid-season. The Wolverines weren’t doing much better at 6-4, with Big Ten conference play still ahead. It looked like Michigan might miss the NCAA tournament.
The Wolverines proved them wrong by winning the Big Ten regular season title – its first since 1986 — with McGary cheering them on from the bench. McGary also beat the odds, recovering so quickly he dressed for Michigan’s final NCAA tournament game, joining his teammates for warm ups.
The Wolverines’ dreams fell short when they lost to Kentucky in the regional final. After the game, the NCAA conducted its routine, random drug tests on a few players – including Mitch McGary.
This makes sense. No one wants to see a team using steroids win the title. The NCAA has a special role, too, in looking out for the health of its student-athletes – and the damage steroids can do is no secret.
The drug test McGary failed, however, was not for steroids. The NCAA can never seem to catch those guys. It was for marijuana, which is now legal in two states. Still, the NCAA’s rule is well known, and it’s McGary’s job to follow it. He has no one to blame but himself — and to his credit, that’s just what he’s done. But when the NCAA gave McGary a season-long suspension, he decided to jump to the NBA.
I thought I was beyond being shocked by the NCAA. But I was wrong.
The basic idea, I get – and I support. McGary failed the test, and that has consequences. But the punishment is ludicrous — and the NCAA, more so. McGary obviously made a big mistake – but the NCAA made a bigger one.
Keep in mind, the NCAA doesn’t test for alcohol, even though it’s illegal for everyone under 21 – a group which includes roughly three quarters of college athletes. In fact, in Ann Arbor, the penalty for underage drinking is 350 dollars, and the penalty for possessing marijuana is 25 bucks. The NBA no longer tests for marijuana, because so many players would fail it.
I used to coach high school hockey, and I was pretty strict. When one of our players got caught smoking pot, we suspended him for a quarter of the season. But we allowed him to practice, so we wouldn’t lose him. We wanted him to learn responsibility, not leave. As one of my mentors told me, “When in doubt, err on the side of the kid.”
It worked. He learned his lesson, played an important role, and has since graduated from college. We’re still in touch, and I’m proud of him.
What did the NCAA teach McGary? If you turn down the NBA, return for your sophomore year, take school seriously, suffer a season-ending injury but cheer on your teammates anyway– and then you make one dumb mistake, you’re done. Nothing else matters.
Prohibition showed us that when our rules are ridiculous, the people who enforce them start looking ridiculous, too. And it’s a pretty good sign your punishment is absurd when the recipient would be a fool to accept it.
I wonder if any of the NCAA’s employees have ever smoked pot? Does the NCAA test them to find out? If an NCAA employee failed the test, would he be suspended for a year without pay? And if so, would he accept that punishment, or leave the NCAA to work for – oh, I don’t know – the NBA?
McGary has undoubtedly learned some lessons — but not the ones the NCAA is supposed to teach him, about accountability, second chances, and redemption. Instead, the NCAA has shown him that some authority figures can’t tell the difference between a civil infraction and a felony, and it’s given him an unforgettable lesson in rank hypocrisy.
And once you’ve learned that, I cannot blame you for going to the NBA. There’s nothing more to learn here, that you need to learn.
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John
Great article as usual. I congratulate you on your stand against Ivory Tower Types at the NCAA. I agree they are out of touch with reality and the student athletes they purport to represent. Go get and Go Blue
Dan Lord
agree 100% !
I guess McGary would have been better off if he had traded his Michigan basketball memorabilia for cash and tattoos.
Beautifully written and right on target. I really would like to see a statement
from the Michigan athletic department and from John Beilein criticizing the NCAA as you have. I can’t believe there is slightest shred of support for the NCAA in this matter by
anyone connected with the Michigan athletic department or administration. And I don;t buy rules are rules. There is also common sense compassion. People within the NCAA circle need to tell the Emperor that he has no clothes.
We have to follow the rules I also have to take random drug tests because I drive a School Bus why can’t I smoke legal weed to calm my nerves Dah, make it make sense
no one at the NCAA smokes pot.
Their actions can only be explained by long term use of hard drugs.
The saddest part is that he loses this opportunity for a college degree; something he could use long past when his days of basketball glory have ended.
Yes…I know, he “could” go back and finish college some day…although statistically unlikely. Ridiculous short term thinking on behalf of the NCAA. I am unfortunately, not surprised.
What amazed me is that Mitch had been asked to dress out to support the team. I wonder if he had been wearing his suit and tie if he would have been tested. He wasn’t playing in the tournament, so why was he tested in the first place?
I think the punishment went way beyond necessity. I, too, was a basketball coach and never wanted to lose a player.
So, you do what’s necessary to get their attention, but not so severe that they quit school.
Mitch made a mistake. He’s a college student or was. Now he’s basically been banned from his first love, shootin’ hoops for his beloved Maize and Blue!
I wish him all the best, and I hope he lands on team that respects him and let’s him play a lot.
Go Blue!
Well written!
My issue is with the punishment. I read somewhere that the NCAA recently changed the punishment to half of a season (still a little strict). The NCAA should have adjusted the punishment accordingly. Ironic that the NCAA is working with the NBA to keep players in college longer, then to just basically push Mitch out.
To everyone who has commented please ponder this…what if the NBA wouldn’t allow Mr. McGary into the draft? For a while now the taboos around marijuana are changing, some organizations. As noted NBA doesn’t test for it which might be a shame as well. Despite the recent state changes (CO & OR) it is against some organizations principals to accept the smoking of marijuana. The NCAA has said it, I am in the Navy and the Federal Gov’t has said smoking marijuana is against our core values. I get the overly harsh circumstances and applaud JUB’s coaching decision when his players had an incident. Young men make mistakes just as us older chaps make mistakes. JUB is on the mark that while the punishment is harsh the NBA’s acceptance makes it farsical and removes any consequences of the punishment.
Agree with the hypocrisy of the NCAA but
A) MJ is still illegal
B) MMG knew the consequence
And C) can’t shake the thought that he wanted to get caught so that the decision
on whether to stay or not would be made for him
Good take on the situation, John.
It seems as if the penalty is way out of proportion in this instance. It also creates incentives for McGary to do two things that the NCAA probably doesn’t desire. The penalty encourages him to leave school early, and it creates a situation in which he is far less likely to graduate from college. It’s a shame that the NCAA can’t think about and determine the penalties that they serve up individually. All of these cases deal with unique people that don’t deserve blanket punishments.
I wonder how many NCAA athletes have received more lenient punishments for infractions that involve physical violence? I’d bet it is a high number.
There are two things that will eventually ruin college football, money & The NCAA.
well I am not completely csevnroant in the topic. If that is the case, why is he talking about it? He is a blow hard, and one of the worst case examples of what is the old boy network. I personally think that is employment at ESPN shows the network’s own bias, and the fact that they are not true representatives of sports in America as they claim. How he is in the HOF is beyond me. Anyone who throws a chair while a kid is shooting free throws should have been fired, he wasn’t, should have been banned from all ncaa activity, he wasn’t, and dang sure not let in the HOF!!! He is even more upset that his boy, Pat, lost his job at TX Tech, nad they hired an ex-UK coach to get the program back to a winning one.Go CATS!!!!!!