UMass87

Quite possibly. It is certainly a shithole.

bprichard

This.

And this. Although I think A is true regardless of whether B is true. WLW is a place for grandstanding, not serious statements.

SpiderDave19

Agreed - It's likely both.

waggy

C) He's a professional attention whore.

It's an elected office, and he takes every opportunity to strengthen his stranglehold. This practice started way back when the county prosecuter at the time went after Larry Flynt for obscenity. It was a national story when I was a kid.

SquidLegs

What a mess. Listen, people without blinders on saw issues coming for X many years back when they really started going after the head-case type players that few other teams would pursue heavily. Now, Wells may or may not fall into that extreme category as a recruit, but they have others who have set the tone for the program. Once you see a team that is abandoning all self-control and sportsmanship on the floor, you know it has gone way too far. That kind of atmosphere creates the scuffles that turn into brawls. That kind of atmosphere creates the attitudes that go into press conferences and embarrass the alumni. That kind of atmosphere creates the post-game situations (waterfountain, etc.) that you saw at Butler a few years back. That is the kind of atmosphere that creates pre-game antics against UD. Now, X has another wild-child on the line for next year. Who is going to be the new scapegoat when that goes haywire? Who is ultimately responsible for establishing the culture on the mens basketball team?

X is trying to market their school with the basketball program. There is nothing wrong with that until the tail begins to wag the dog. Father Graham put out a video after the brawl where it seemed his main point was that X is not defined by the Xavier mens basketball team. I hope that the X fans on websites are not indicitive of the larger sample size of their fans because that message never got through to most of the crazies who I have seen desperately scraping for a resolution driven by their highest priority, watching winning basketball this season.

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The two homer reasons that Xavier fans are delusional in their evaluation of the Muskies: 1. Byron Larkin 2. Brian Snow

Xaviers Shame:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gpS7PSYWcM

Muddy Waters

Excellent post, SquidLegs.

Here’s more bad national publicity about Xavier, which will not help Chris Mack & Co. on the recruiting trail:


Jury Doesn't Charge Dezmine Wells (Dana O'Neil, ESPN - August 28, 2012)

The decision went against the hopes of Deters, who in his statement said: "I would sincerely hope the institution would revisit this situation," and left Wells' attorney, Merlyn Shiverdecker furious.

"That is self-serving gobbledygook," Shiverdecker told ESPN.com after being read Xavier's statement. "I think they were committed to the process and not the fairness of the outcome."

"Dez Wells got thrown under a bus because of their commitment to the process."

"Within two hours of being exonerated, they say this? Why in the hell would he want to go back there?" Shiverdecker said.

"My goal was not to lambast Xavier University. My goal was to exonerate Dez, to clear his name. We have done all we can to do that. I'm tickled we were able to do that today, that prosecutor made his statements public. But if Xavier wants to keep their blinders on, there's nothing nobody can do to stop them."

Shiverdecker took issue with the university's stipulation that its standards differ from that of the criminal justice system, explaining that preponderance of evidence is merely the civil equivalent of probable cause.

The lawyer also said he was angry that the university tried to imply that it had information that the prosecutor's office or grand jury did not.

"I personally gave the prosecutor's office every piece of paper, every exhibit, every report, every statement, every hospital report plus a complete transcript of the hearing," he said. "For them to sit there and suggest that the prosecutor was looking at something else is disingenuous at best."

Shiverdecker said the university had rushed to judgment but said Wells appreciated the prosecutor's office gave him "the only forum where he could get his good name back .... The actions of the grand jury have vindicated him of wrongdoing."



Grand Jury Rejects Sexual Assault Charges Against Expelled Xavier Player Wells (CBS Sports - August 28, 2012)



Dez Wells Won’t Be Charged, Raising Questions About Xavier’s Decision To Expel Him (Yahoo! - August 29, 2012)

Dez Wells

Dez Wells and the Price of Xavier's Success (Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati Enquirer - August 22, 2012)

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Muddy Waters

Dez Wells Completely Exonerated (Banners on the Parkway - August 28, 2012)

Dez Wells has been cleared of all charges.

What happens next will reveal a great deal about the character of XU.


Just when it seemed like the last 18 months of Xavier basketball could not possibly get more tumultuous, Dez Wells was expelled with barely a hint of warning. The sophomore had averaged 10/5/1 in his first year at Xavier and was expected to handle the majority of the heavy lifting for the Musketeers this year. Rumor and entendre swirled around Cincinnati, but with no real public explanation, Wells was gone.

Today brings with it yet another twist in the case. News broke roughly an hour ago that a Hamilton County grand jury had heard all the evidence in the Wells case and chose not to charge Dez with even one count of any criminal wrongdoing. While that was itself enough of a bombshell, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters was hardly ready to just move on. Deters released a statement and also appeared on 700 WLW with Bill Cunningham this afternoon. Hardly strangers to PR nightmares, it seems like the Xavier administration has landed themselves squarely in the middle of another one.

Deters was not in the mood to go kindly on the Xavier brass this afternoon. Using the bully pulpit afforded by his position, he took the school to task. In his official statement he hinted at his feelings by saying, "I have nothing but the greatest respect for Xavier University, and in particular Father Graham. I would sincerely hope the institution would revisit this situation." Because of state law protecting grand jury proceedings, Deters is not permitted to reveal exactly what the charges leveled against Dez Wells were. Wells was expelled by the decision of a bourd of faculty and staff at Xavier, and Deters was loath to let that pass either, "there is something flawed with a procedure where a young man and his accuser appear before a group of people, which I would suggest probably isn't well trained in assessing thse types of cases, and they sit there and tell their stories. No lawyers, no nothing. There's just something wrong with that."

Deters went on to call the situation "fundamentally unfair" to Wells and pointed out that Wells' reputation has been tainted by the rumor and allegation that were rampant in the last week. Deters closed by saying, "I think Father (Michael) Graham is one of the most impressive, fair people I've ever met and I hope he has the ability to look at this and correct an injustice." While that was the end of Hamilton County's thoughts on the matter, it is hardly the end of the fallout.

While it is obviously clear that whoever is in charge of public relations at Xavier has been dozing at the wheel for quite some time, this cannot be cleared up by the simple quick fix of waking him or her up. Several problems now confront the university as they try to move forward from another very public misstep.

1. Would Wells even want to return now? The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Wells' attorney has intimated that Wells is open to it, but also hurt by the way he was handled by the school.

2. Could Wells come back? Yes. Despite the school overruling his appeal on August 9th, he could be reinstated as a student. As for being a scholarship athlete, things are a bit murkier. Chris Cantino already holds Wells' scholarship slot. Cutting another player off scholarship at this point reeks of yet another media disaster. It's clear Coach Mack would like to see Dez back, how he can get him is anyone's guess.

3. Who is wagging the dog here? More ominously, it seems like these allegations against Wells only arose because Xavier University went looking for them. A school with a formerly spotless record was hammered July 23rd when the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights set in place strict new guidelines for the university after alleging Title IX non compliance. In short, Xavier was accused of discrimination against women. While that came from one case, the school removed several high-ranking faculty for their parts in hiding multiple sexual assault and rape cases. Barely a week later, Xavier went after a young man with no record, expelled him, and then failed to provide evidence "It wasn't even close. We would never take anything like this to court. It just wouldn't happen," said Joe Deters.

So Dez Wells no longer has the sceptre of 11 years in prison hanging over his head. Unfortunately for him, he has lost his reputation, his game, and his education. Unfortunately for Chris Mack, his best player is gone. Unfortunately for Xavier University, the missteps of the last 18 months are piling up quickly. At some point, the piper will come calling.

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UMass87

Can you please stop posting the text of what you link. Just post the link and your summary. What you are doing is stealing.

SpiderDave19

Or,

MudFlap

Please. Some of us have been to MA - overgrown, overpriced filthy slum.

Knobby

A hint of warning to who? You? I am sure Dez knew about this long before anyone else.

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Well, we were smaller, but at least we were slower!

MudFlap

Actually, he didn't. According to his Atty, he was given a letter on 8/2 that said he was expelled immediately and told to get off campus the same day. Atty said he was totally shocked. The letter said he had 5 days to appeal, appeal filed 8/10 and denied 8/14.

UMass87

About time someone defended Cinci....I keep throwing out inflammatory crap about Cinci and nobody responds. I was starting to feel bad for you guys.

Bona84

Where is the defense of Cincy?

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Bona84

Bona Wolf for Pope

It was from the modern politics school of debate. Not so much a defense of yourself, but an attack on the other to even things out.

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"Careful reading comprehension is crucial to an online forum discussion."