Wolf is Back!

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Why would he even consider a walk-on spot? It's not like Drummond where NBA money is waiting. If he does walk-on that would be unbelievable!

Maybe Enosch only has a semester or so left to graduate??? Even if he or his family have to pay, finishing a degree makes sense especially if he can pull it off in a semester. He won't transfer credits to most German universities too easily, but he can go home with a degree and play hoops somewhere in the world for OK money as a 22ish year old for a few years.

 

[whaler11]

No natural thread for this comment. But further evidence that Ollie knows what he is doing is the timing of both changes together.

 

[Jimdish255]

I think Wolf comes back regardless of the transfer. His punishment now is to pay his way through senior year. Hes going to want to graduate and he loves his school. If thats the case, i love this move!

Is this the policy going forward for all players? Does it help us, hurt us? We're not that deep at center for sure. We were a mile wide though.

 

[chrisn671]

Wolf is 7' tall, is a year away from graduating from major northeastern U.S. university, has a chance to showcase himself for another year at the highest level (likely) available to him on a loaded roster. As far as we know, his girlfriend also attends the university. While he may feel a little betrayed, there are more than enough reasons for him to return.

 

[Kitaman]

Why would he even consider a walk-on spot? It's not like Drummond where NBA money is waiting. If he does walk-on that would be unbelievable!

I agree logically, but if he is a 'Man' and wants to correct a wrong then he should return. The cost will be nominal to his Euro pro salary, and easily paid back. He owes UConn for his lapse in judgement. In a way coming back IS a good career move, in more ways than one. Can he live his life telling his story of why/how he left UConn?

Its a proper amend for him to return. I really hope he comes back, not for basketball but for him as a young adult.

I also applaud UConn move taking the schollie, its the right thing to do.

 

[Danzz]

I think Wolf comes back regardless of the transfer. His punishment now is to pay his way through senior year. Hes going to want to graduate and he loves his school. If thats the case, i love this move!

Disagree. It is likely that he is gone and I don't blame him.He was already punished by being suspended and IMO pulling his scholly had more to do with basketball reasons than discipline.

 

[3rdbass]

Disagree. It is likely that he is gone and I don't blame him.He was already punished by being suspended and IMO pulling his scholly had more to do with basketball reasons than discipline.

And you know this how?

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Disagree. It is likely that he is gone and I don't blame him.He was already punished by being suspended and IMO pulling his scholly had more to do with basketball reasons than discipline.

I don't agree with this at all. Even if Kromah is a better pound for pound player than Wolf (and who knows if this is the case), it would make a heck of a lot more sense to choose the 7 footer over the 4th guard given the state of our roster.

If it was a pure basketball move like you say, then it's a pretty bad one. I doubt the new administration was too pleased with Mr. Wolf.

 

[Palatine]

I still do not understand why they gave away his scholarship to someone who will probably average under 10 minutes a game and have very little impact.

Wolf screwed up. He payed the price. This seems to be piling on.

 

[mcs333]

All speculation. We don't know enough to draw any conclusions. I will give KO the benefit of doubts in making this decision. I do hope Wolf returns and adding another guard for next year is a good decision.

 

[freescooter]

My preference would have been that they just told him he was not allowed to return to the basketball team but I can live with this. More than I expected really. If he leaves anyway, I'm not sure it shows any particular high character by anyone in the athletic department, just a sort of buck passing move. Those who want him gone can be satisfied. Those who want him back, well it was his decision, not UConn's that he not return. If he returns, he returns as a walk-on. I can live with that. I hope, though I know its too much to hope for, that if he does return he doesn't get a hero's welcome at "midnight madness." He was a jerk. He embarrassed UConn and he did it at a critical point in the season. A true demonstration of his newfound maturity would be to just go away.

 

[mcs333]

I see you don't believe in redemption. To each his own!

 

[Kitaman]

The alleged assault had nothing to do with basketball, so how is a basketball punishment (i.e. suspension) paying his dues?

I'm not saying crucify the guy but to connect a non-basketball incident with basketball is baffling to me. The event happened on school grounds so the University has the right to determine its action. Its not like he's getting kicked out of school, or unable to play basketball, its just that the University is deciding not to educate him for free to play. Are we saying he is now the victim because his scholly was revoked?

 

[warbler1055]

I still do not understand why they gave away his scholarship to someone who will probably average under 10 minutes a game and have very little impact.

Wolf screwed up. He payed the price. This seems to be piling on.

Well said!!! Enough is enough. Taking his scholarship seems to be petty. Charges were dropped. So he made some mistakes, so what? didn't we all do it at some point? I don't know his finance but this really hurts.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Well said!!! Enough is enough. Taking his scholarship seems to be petty. Charges were dropped. So he made some mistakes, so what? didn't we all do it at some point? I don't know his finance but this really hurts.

I'm sure you would singing a different tune if it was your daughter in the alleged incident.

Wolf is lucky to be at UConn and allowed to play basketball. I'm not going to crucify the guy for a late night incident that was dropped, but enough happened to warrant an arrest and a confrontation with a female definitely happened.

It's over now and i hope Wolf comes back, but to act like UConn is in the wrong for pulling his scholarship is absurd.

 

[aceboon]

All of you "Wolf is now a victim" posters must be cool with the UConnvict nicknames and all the other mud that gets slung our way. If someone needs to be made an example of so that this type of behavior won't be tolerated anymore then so be it, the numbers that Duffy put up awhile back of UConn basketball players that have been arrested were ridiculous. Now if players see someone lose their scholarship for knocking a females head around maybe they'll think twice before doing something stupid that lands UConn in the news for all the wrong reasons.

 

[Waquoit]

I still do not understand why they gave away his scholarship to someone who will probably average under 10 minutes a game and have very little impact.

Wolf screwed up. He payed the price. This seems to be piling on.

What price has he paid? He got away pretty easy, it seems. Folks closer to the situation than me thought for sure he'd be gone at the time. To his credit, he has said and done all the right things since.

If this was a basketball decision, I would think they wouldn't want him back at all. Taking away his schollie just to give it to another doesn't seem to be Ollie's style.

I want him back, I think he is better than Nolan.

 

[freescooter]

I see you don't believe in redemption. To each his own!

LOL, I believe in redemption but that doesn't mean you get off without consequences. What we disagree on is what constitutes fair consequences for his actions. He's not in jail. He doesn't have a criminal record. He wasn't expelled from the University. He wasn't kicked off the basketball team. Indeed he has an ivitation to try out for a spot. He seems to have suffered pretty minimally. Oh he'll have ot write a check for his tuition and such, but so will most of the other undergraduates on campus. And perhaps next time someone asks him to leave his or her room he will think back, remember writing a check for $40 grand or so, and decide it is a good idea to honor the request. If he takes/took full advantage of the situation, he gets to leave UConn with a degree for the cost of a single year. Most undergraduates would take that deal in a New York minutes.

 

[pj]

$40k for a ten minute fight with his girlfriend that she has forgiven him for seems an over-reaction. But the modern attitude is no mercy. No doubt this was a university-imposed sanction, I can't imagine Kevin Ollie doing this.

 

[freescooter]

I still do not understand why they gave away his scholarship to someone who will probably average under 10 minutes a game and have very little impact.

Wolf screwed up. He payed the price. This seems to be piling on.

What price did he pay? He went to counseling, which based on comments by his own lawyer, he apparently needed. He was suspended for 8 games, but that's pretty much typical when a player gets arrested...suspended until the court hearing at minimum. He was not kicked out of school. He was not even kicked off the basketball team. He was not fined. He was not jailed. He will not have a criminal record. Any or all of those things were possible for what he did. Apparently he had a problem, maybe a couple. He worked on them and is, I presume, continuing to do so. But he also committed criminal acts for which he really wasn't punished by the criminal justice system. He's hardly the victim.

 

[Kitaman]

$40k for a ten minute fight with his girlfriend that she has forgiven him for seems an over-reaction. But the modern attitude is no mercy. No doubt this was a university-imposed sanction, I can't imagine Kevin Ollie doing this.

You can visit abused women shelters (unfortunately not cemeteries) and poll women on how many of them forgave their attackers. There are many reasons that women forgive in these situations, however its inconclusive as to how meaningful it was or if it was done in fear. I would like to think that she weighed Wolf's potential life impacting consequences in making her decision. Her act of forgiveness did give him the opportunity to stay in school and play basketball, and closed the criminal case. But Wolf is dealing with his actions in a punishment that will hopefully save him from further such incidents as well as eliminate inappropriate behaviors. Many people play college athletics and get educated on their own dime, its not a tragedy. He was not kicked off the team. I look forward to seeing him on the court, and hopes he adds to something special we have next season.

As for the $40k if he gets married and winds up never hitting his wife and causing a divorce, he will have saved exponentially more than that. And yes I can see Ollie agreeing to this, its a good compromise as in most cases scholarships are not a right of entitlement or to be taken for granted.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Well said!!! Enough is enough. Taking his scholarship seems to be petty. Charges were dropped. So he made some mistakes, so what? didn't we all do it at some point?

You'd have a point if his mistake was getting arrested for underage drinking. His mistake was quite a bit more serious than that.

 

[Scot-e]

Fans that think college basketball is a Disney movie have not been paying attention. Taking away his scholi for an arrest is exactly what UCONN should do- other teams cheat, lie and break rules all the time and get away with it- UCONN farts in an elevator and we get dinged with multi year penalties.
It is important for the school to reflect the new coaches strong points- and that does not allow for any behavior that makes the news in a negative way. If you are not smart enough to get drunk and fight with your girlfriend and not have the cops come and arrest you- then you either need to play somewhere else or show you really care by walking on the team and paying your way.
This seems like a non issue to me.

 

[60'sfan]

I think what Uconn did was the right thing. Wolf is not likely to contribute much to the team anyway. I think when he was given the scholarship originally, Uconn was hoping that he would develop into a solid front court player. He hasn't. He can still walk on if he wants but I would think the Kevin Ollie would want to give his minutes to others with a higher upside. Now that recruiting is on the up-tick he can use the extra scholarship.

 

[JSB60]

I wish they hadn't taken his scholarship, but it probably had to be done. As a new coach in a program coming off NCAA sanctions, KO can't afford to be out of step with our cultural trend of harsh punishments and disdain for anyone who appears "soft" on any kind of offender.