Tyler Olander suspended for violating team rules

[cohenzone]

I've been convinced. We've had guys committing felonies and people say they deserve 2nd and 3rd chances and they've been punished enough. Here's a kid who got a little drunk on Spring Break and a little tipsy the first week or two of school and people are acting like he stole laptops or assaulted a woman or violated a court order or something. Heck he's 21 so it wasn't even illegal for him to be drinking. I'm wondering if this sudden demand that players live up to some standards is the result of the fact that he's a bench player? Would there be so much demand for kicking him off the team or suspending him if he were an All-American.1st round draft pick? Or is Ollie actually having an effect on the fans? If its the latter, then perhaps he was a better choice than I expected.

Sooty pal but you haven't a clue. Nobody is holier than thou. The kid has a problem and hoops are nothing. the coach understands it. You must be 8 years old.

 

[sparky]

To quote Forrest Gump: " stupid is as stupid does"

 

[Catsailor]

To quote Forrest Gump: " stupid is as stupid does"

Was that meant for TO or Freescooter?

 

[freescooter]

Some of the responses on here are confusing. When Enosch Wolf got into trouble, everyone said kick him off the team. When Tyler Olander gets arrested, then gets a DUI, people are still acting like he has a right to be here. He doesn't deserve any special treatment in my opinion. If Ollie has any guts, he'll give him the boot.

So i assume you've changed your position too. Here's what you said about Wolfe getting the boot:I think the program and Ollie really messed up with pulling Wolf's scholarship. I get the whole "ten toes in" bullshiit, but I do not think Wolf was treated fairly.

• 
  [ ]He did the crime, and paid the time. In case some of you forgot, he sat out since February 11th. The team went 4-4 after he was suspended. 16-6 with Wolf.
  [ ]I do not understand how Tyler Olander hasn't been treated fairly. He was caught trespassing and drunk (and featured in the worst rap video of all-time). He was not given any punishment other than community service. He was never being considered for suspension or being kicked off the team indefinitely.
  [ ]Before all you jump at my throat saying their crimes aren't comparable; I understand they aren't. But Wolf was acquitted in court and that is that.
  [ ]Cleaning up the program will be another issue. If Ollie really wants to clean the program up, he will have to start recruiting in rich, white-collar neighborhoods instead of getting top recruits. All this garbage happens to every program, but UConn is a hot-topic and is under high levels of scrutiny. That won't change as long as we continue to win.
  [ ]The biggest problem of all is giving Wolf's scholarship away. To me, this looks like Ollie/program is trying to be a *ing police officer out there. He paid for his mistakes. And you take away his scholarship and give it to some mid-major transfer who only has a fan-base inside his family? Yeah, "ten toes in" right *ing there. That is a scumbag move by someone who wants to clean up his public perception rather than doing something right. This kid put in months of work over his 3 years here, and then you just take his scholarship away just like that? And give it to a nobody transfer? Yeah that makes sense.

You didn't want Wolf kicked off but are ok with Olander? I'd go the other way. Wolf assaulted a woman. Olander was just a dumb kid.

 

[CL82]

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebask.../88094/3-point-shot-arizona-has-gem-in-gordon

From Andy Katz:

​

This comment from UConn coach Kevin Ollie speaks volumes after Tyler Olander was suspended for his DUI when asked about how this affects the Huskies' frontcourt: "I don't care about what's going on with our bigs rotation but do care about Tyler as a person.'' Ollie is proving his personal character is transferring over to his coaching. He isn't going to compromise.​

Ollie added that Shabazz Napier is "looking great. Wow.'' Napier has a real shot to be an All-American, let alone one of the top contenders for American Athletic Conference player of the year.​

 

[ctchamps]

l

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebask.../88094/3-point-shot-arizona-has-gem-in-gordon

From Andy Katz:

​

This comment from UConn coach Kevin Ollie speaks volumes after Tyler Olander was suspended for his DUI when asked about how this affects the Huskies' frontcourt: "I don't care about what's going on with our bigs rotation but do care about Tyler as a person.'' Ollie is proving his personal character is transferring over to his coaching. He isn't going to compromise.​

The issue is Tyler! Is he just immature? Does he have a problem with alcohol that is addictive in nature? Or is he using alcohol because he's unhappy about something?

Three different issues each requiring a different approach.

I get that different people approach life differently. My perspective is that there are a lot of immature and/or selfish viewpoints presented in this thread!

 

[scrappy2.0]

I've been convinced. We've had guys committing felonies and people say they deserve 2nd and 3rd chances and they've been punished enough. Here's a kid who got a little drunk on Spring Break and a little tipsy the first week or two of school and people are acting like he stole laptops or assaulted a woman or violated a court order or something. Heck he's 21 so it wasn't even illegal for him to be drinking. I'm wondering if this sudden demand that players live up to some standards is the result of the fact that he's a bench player? Would there be so much demand for kicking him off the team or suspending him if he were an All-American.1st round draft pick? Or is Ollie actually having an effect on the fans? If its the latter, then perhaps he was a better choice than I expected.

If he killed someone while driving drunk-- how small of an incident would've it had been? IMHO DUI is worse than stealing a laptop or pushing a female--in fact it's not close--especially since he had no license. Wolfe deserved another chance---everyone deserves a 2nd chance within reason--Wolfe did NOT get that. Olander has and this is grievous--

 

[RS9999X]

This reads like a Tyler should start over Deandre Daniels thread. The ones where it was said Tyler should never play another minute.

 

[Goat]

Most of the posts here seem to have been written by children who searched for their presents and were never surprised on their birthday. "Now, now, NOW!"

TO has been arrested. Minimal info is released by the arresting department. The media has regurgitated this police blotter news, added bits and pieces of earlier stories and a little bit about basketball.

The police report hasn't even been delivered to the GA Court yet and it is not a public document. In the courthouse is a woman or man, who distinguished her or him self as an attorney, who was nominated by a governor and ratified by the legislature. That person, with or without a jury, will follow a painstaking process to find what happened. That will not begin until the defense and prosecution have done their due diligence to find evidence and law to achieve an outcome that favors their point of view.

We do not know enough to judge someone regarding criminal charges. Our Constitution and judicial system wisely has assigned that task to others and they will not be getting to it very quickly.

Meanwhile, KO is perfectly correct, caring first for the kid he is coaching.

The rules apparently include, 'don't get arrested.' So, regardless of the fact that ALLEGEDLY driving while intoxicated is not a crime, TO was suspended. The coaching staff and other university staff undoubtedly are scrutinizing the charges. Meanwhile, this huge 6'11' kid is on a campus experiencing the social impact of the allegations (you are all let down, bet students are too). Compared with, say, the community feedback after a good game, this has to be awful. If Tyler is devastated, it doesn't change the fact that he cannot hide.

I think we can trust KO to do the right things and help TO learn from this and, if necessary, to get well.

I am very pleased with our coach, glad if no one was physically injured and concerned about TO, even if this is the result of his poor behavior.

 

[jibsey]

Most of the posts here seem to have been written by children who searched for their presents and were never surprised on their birthday. "Now, now, NOW!"

TO has been arrested. Minimal info is released by the arresting department. The media has regurgitated this police blotter news, added bits and pieces of earlier stories and a little bit about basketball.

The police report hasn't even been delivered to the GA Court yet and it is not a public document. In the courthouse is a woman or man, who distinguished her or him self as an attorney, who was nominated by a governor and ratified by the legislature. That person, with or without a jury, will follow a painstaking process to find what happened. That will not begin until the defense and prosecution have done their due diligence to find evidence and law to achieve an outcome that favors their point of view.

We do not know enough to judge someone regarding criminal charges. Our Constitution and judicial system wisely has assigned that task to others and they will not be getting to it very quickly.

Meanwhile, KO is perfectly correct, caring first for the kid he is coaching.

The rules apparently include, 'don't get arrested.' So, regardless of the fact that ALLEGEDLY driving while intoxicated is not a crime, TO was suspended. The coaching staff and other university staff undoubtedly are scrutinizing the charges. Meanwhile, this huge 6'11' kid is on a campus experiencing the social impact of the allegations (you are all let down, bet students are too). Compared with, say, the community feedback after a good game, this has to be awful. If Tyler is devastated, it doesn't change the fact that he cannot hide.

I think we can trust KO to do the right things and help TO learn from this and, if necessary, to get well.

I am very pleased with our coach, glad if no one was physically injured and concerned about TO, even if this is the result of his poor behavior.

It would be helpful if there's someone who knows him personally could speak about his character so we could get a sense whether he is a total or he's just made some honest mistakes. In other words, does he deserve a 3rd chance?

 

[Hi-Low]

My guess is, unless anything else comes to light, Tyler will be suspended from the team for the fall semester. Assuming the court situation resolves smoothly, he will be allowed to rejoin the team for the spring semester and graduate as a member of the team. Personally I don't care how is absense or presense effects the team...basically a big body with little upside...if he demonstrates to KO's satisfication he deserves to return then good.

KO will not banish him forever if he can avoid it....Tyler and UConn are invested each other. He screwed up twice and the outcome could have been much worse if he had an accident...he didn't...get's 1 final shot.

 

[ctchamps]

It would be helpful if there's someone who knows him personally could speak about his character so we could get a sense whether he is a total or he's just made some honest mistakes. In other words, does he deserve a 3rd chance?

How do you determine that? It's difficult to know what's going on with TO or anyone for that matter. Is he just being irresponsible. Lots of youth go through this phase. Does he have the gene for alcoholism. People with this problem quickly succumb to the influence of alcohol and demonstrate a wide variety of behavioral problems. Perhaps this past season was so humiliating for TO he is afraid of a repeat season. So he sabotaging himself.

We just don't know and should leave it to the people who have the tools to evaluate people and let them handle this problem as opposed to dissecting these kids on a forum.

OK this is a little harsh on my part. We have the right to review, discuss and debate these things. But in the end we really should know our limitations in these matters.

 

[jibsey]

Someone (peer) who knows him on campus would be able to speak to whether he parties 4 nights a week , gets loaded and to his character in general. His 2 incidents are not a good sign. As to what control we have over this, the answer is none but this is how we waste our time here.

 

[Goat]

Someone (peer) who knows him on campus would be able to speak to whether he parties 4 nights a week , gets loaded and to his character in general. His 2 incidents are not a good sign. As to what control we have over this, the answer is none but this is how we waste our time here.

The indicia of credibility would be that the witness is on the-boneyard?

 

[uchusky32]

[qDe="Goat, post: 687860, member: 3826"]The indicia of credibility would be that the witness is on the-boneyard?[/quote]

For those of you like me who graduated before UCONN was a top 20 university he means the damn rat is one of you!

 

[CTBasketball]

So i assume you've changed your position too. Here's what you said about Wolfe getting the boot:

You didn't want Wolf kicked off but are ok with Olander? I'd go the other way. Wolf assaulted a woman. Olander was just a dumb kid.

Wolf's situation was entirely different. He got acquitted of his crimes and from every report I've read, the police report was harsher than what actually happened. Olander was already arrested once. Then he gets arrested again within 6 months. He has an alcohol problem and is a bad decision maker. If he can't make EASY decisions off the court, what makes you think he's gonna make good decisions on the court? He won't.

 

[RS9999X]

Insane stuff. I've worked with brilliant people with DWI arrests and drug charges and minor disturbing the peace charges. Reminds me of the lunacy of the teachers lounge where showing up 5 minutes before contracted time, leaving 5 minutes after contracted time, and always taking the average students passed for career brilliance. Anyone else was a risk taker and clearly inept.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I've been convinced. We've had guys committing felonies and people say they deserve 2nd and 3rd chances and they've been punished enough. Here's a kid who got a little drunk on Spring Break and a little tipsy the first week or two of school and people are acting like he stole laptops or assaulted a woman or violated a court order or something. Heck he's 21 so it wasn't even illegal for him to be drinking. I'm wondering if this sudden demand that players live up to some standards is the result of the fact that he's a bench player? Would there be so much demand for kicking him off the team or suspending him if he were an All-American.1st round draft pick? Or is Ollie actually having an effect on the fans? If its the latter, then perhaps he was a better choice than I expected.

Not sure if you're paying your writer too much or too little, but it's probably time for a change.

 

[Stinger92860]

I have absolutely no way to verify this but....it's possible the car was registered and he did not fail the sobriety test. No license stands.

 

[Pudge]

Obviously the kid has a drinking problem. Hope he gets help before something more serious happens. If the spring break issues didn't send up a red flag (to him) hopefully this will.

Yes ...

And you have a drinking problem. And I have a drinking problem. I have 5 brothers with drinking problems. It's kinda society thing. Rope him up ... handcuff him ... and see if 6 months of court ordered sessions changes his behavior. The process is HARSH ... and he will learn from this. OR, the slide gets worse.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Wolf's situation was entirely different. He got acquitted of his crimes and from every report I've read, the police report was harsher than what actually happened. Olander was already arrested once. Then he gets arrested again within 6 months. He has an alcohol problem and is a bad decision maker. If he can't make EASY decisions off the court, what makes you think he's gonna make good decisions on the court? He won't.

Both situations and players don't deserve to play for UConn.

Also, I believe charges were dropped on Wolfe, huge difference than being acquitted.

 

[UConn3432]

Suspensions won't teach him a lesson. If you suspended me from work I would go out drinking every night. The only punishment that will get through to him is forcing him to do something he hates more than anything in the world. Force him to rebound. Force him to spend extra time in the weight room. Force him to put extra time into his body and game and take some pride in himself. He hasn't done it for three years and he only has one more chance to show European teams he's worth a contract and a BMW. One season of rebounding would do this kid good.

 

[upstater]

I have absolutely no way to verify this but....it's possible the car was registered and he did not fail the sobriety test. No license stands.

As someone who has been mischarged by a police officer in such an instance, I would wait a bit until the final resolution. My license dropped under my pocket under my car seat, and I had to go to court for driving with a suspended license, even though the proper charge was driving without my license (my physical license). The judge dismissed the case and I paid nothing for not being able to show my license (no speeding or anything, just a routing Friday night checkpoint in Ann Arbor), then he openly stated aloud why police officers are wasting the court's time.

 

[FeedTheDove]

I have no clue why people are saying that he has an alcohol problem. He's been drunk twice in college??? NOOOOO... Alcoholic...

 

[Husky68]

I have no clue why people are saying that he has an alcohol problem. He's been drunk twice in college??? NOOOOO... Alcoholic...

Do you follow him around and know he's been drunk exactly twice.
Think maybe drunk and driving a little different than drunk at party and sleeping it off?