Dear Mr. Maturi...

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BigGopherFan

BigGopherFan

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Mr. Maturi,
I would first like to thank you for everything you have done for the University of Minnesota. You have spearheaded some wonderful projects and made one of the BEST hires in college basketball history when you inked Tubby Smith.
However, several credible sources tell me that you will be suspending Trevor Mbakwe for the season. I respect your decision, but I must say I strongly disagree. Why did you let him practice with the team if you were going to suspend him in November? I understand it is your job to uphold the integrity of the university, but this is a young man's life we are dealing with here. Where does Trevor go now? There is no disputing the hardship this young man has gone through over the last six months. Basketball is his escape, and now that has been so brutally ripped away from him. It was probably tough for him to digest considering he was participating in all team activities (from what I understand) and now all that is gone. No doubt, if he is found guilty, keep him away from the team. If it is true that he struck that young woman, he does not deserve to play basketball. But that has NOT been proven. He is innocent until proven guilty. Why would you not allow the legal process to play itself out?

I know this has probably been an extremely difficult decision, and I don't envy you one bit, but the community is overwhelmingly against suspending, from what I can tell.

Was this decision made to please the NCAA? What about the basketball team? What about Trevor’s family?

I hope this does not define your tenure at the University of Minnesota.
 

With all due respect, Joel's first job is to protect the integrity of the athletic programs at the University. We must not forget that Trevor is still under a criminal investigation, and no matter how good this basketball wizard is, we can't let it cloud our judgment. I believe also that Joel has much more information than any of us here, which would definitely help in easing this decision.

I wish as much as anyone here that he could play. But his criminal investigation is ongoing, and for that very real chance that he could be proven guilty, maybe it is smart not to take any chance here. It's Joel's job to protect the program, and do what's best for it accordingly. Joel is not ruining Trevor's life by not playing him but instead merely doing his job and protecting the program and the reputation of the University, nothing else.
 

"But the community is overwhelmingly against suspending, from what I can tell."

Who says? That's not the feeling I get. I see and hear lots of folks on both sides. And I'm not just talking about folks on the Gopher Hole, either.
 

""......several credible sources.... "". I have heard thousands of rumors from credible sources. the sources are credible but the rumors are just that.....rumors.
 

I have been expecting Mr. Maturi to suspend Trevor until his court issues are resolved and I would support that decision. I would be disappointed if Mr. Maturi removes Trevor from the team permanently before the results are in. I would not understand allowing Trevor to begin practice and then kick him off the team while the charges are pending. That approach woudl make no sense to me at all. I am very hopeful that Trevor's legal problems are resolved soon and if the charges are dropped or if he is innocent, Trevor has the opportunity to play BB at the U at some point in the future.
 


SelectionSunday said:
"But the community is overwhelmingly against suspending, from what I can tell."

Who says? That's not the feeling I get. I see and hear lots of folks on both sides. And I'm not just talking about folks on the Gopher Hole, either.
Click to expand...


You're right, Hodger, but it seems irrelevant. It's neither an election nor a poll. I think he's unlikely to (and shouldn't) let the opinions of a whole bunch of people who don't have many details play a role in his decision.
 

I had a bad feeling when Trevor's attorney postponed the original August court date. What the defense counsel thought was good legal strategy has completely backfired on Trev's personal life...
 

I Haven't Really Said Too Much On This Topic

But as many of you know, I also follow University of Cincinnati athletics.

UC doesn't have the best reputation for athletes and legal charges but even UC has a AD rule that a player charged with a felony is suspended from the team until the charge(s) are resolved.

I'm sure Joel Maturi will make an appropriate decision based on all of the known facts.
 

I love how people are saying things like "you're dealing with a man's life..." or "brutally ripped away".

Mbawke is still getting a very expensive education for free. Please don't treat this situation like he's been diagnosed with cancer or a family member died. He has nobody to blame but himself here for putting himself in this situation. I don't care how many "witnesses" he has that place him elsewhere that night. When I was in college, I could've come up with 50 people to help out with an alibi. Obviously, there is information that is not public, otherwise it wouldn't drag out this long. Why would the prosecution continue forward if TB supposedly had such a valid alibi?
 



BigGopherFan,

I think you are missing one thing in this. My understanding is that if Trevor can't play he is going to remain on scholarship, remain on the team and continue to practice.

That, to me, isn't having something ripped away from him.
 

burton34 said:
I had a bad feeling when Trevor's attorney postponed the original August court date. What the defense counsel thought was good legal strategy has completely backfired on Trev's personal life...
Click to expand...



Moving the court date back is almost always a good decision for a defense atty, especially in cases such as Mbakwe's. In TM's particular case, it was a no-brainer for the defense atty. Trevor is facing much more serious things that having his basketball career postponed by 1 year.
 

Art Vandelay said:
I love how people are saying things like "you're dealing with a man's life..." or "brutally ripped away".

Mbawke is still getting a very expensive education for free. Please don't treat this situation like he's been diagnosed with cancer or a family member died. He has nobody to blame but himself here for putting himself in this situation. I don't care how many "witnesses" he has that place him elsewhere that night. When I was in college, I could've come up with 50 people to help out with an alibi. Obviously, there is information that is not public, otherwise it wouldn't drag out this long. Why would the prosecution continue forward if TB supposedly had such a valid alibi?
Click to expand...


I agree with everything you posted, but I don't neccesarily agree with you that there is obviously information that is not public. The court system is flawed in that it is often tangled up in politics. I am not sure what situation is in Dade County?, but often you will see an overzealous DA who wants to make an example out of their high profile cases. It is almost always a political move. A prime example is the Duke Lacrosse case, people were constantly saying "they must have something on this kid". Even though the DA is supposed to be obligated to only bring charges that he/she is practically certain they will get a conviction, that is often not the case (especially with high profile cases). But I do agree with you that TM is not a giant victim. If he is completely innocent, he had to wait 1 season to play basketball, and get an education for free. It isn't fair, but it isn't a tragedy.
 




"My understanding is that if Trevor can't play he is going to remain on scholarship, remain on the team and continue to practice".

I hope this is the case-if he isn't allowed to play in games.

BECAUSE:

1. He would be able to continue his education.
2. He would remain part of the team.
3. He would be able to start playing in games when case is resolved and/or he is
found 'not guilty'.
4. If the trial is delayed till spring and he is exonerated he would still have
two years of eligibility left.
 

"You're right, Hodger, but it seems irrelevant. It's neither an election nor a poll. I think he's unlikely to (and shouldn't) let the opinions of a whole bunch of people who don't have many details play a role in his decision."

I understand that it's not an election or poll. All I was pointing out (by quoting BigGopherFan's post) is the falsehood that "the community is overwhelmingly against suspending Trevor." I don't get that vibe at all from the people I talk to, or from quite a few of the posts I see here. There are a lot of people out there in the public OK with the idea of suspending him from playing in games.
 

Art Vandelay said:
I love how people are saying things like "you're dealing with a man's life..." or "brutally ripped away".

Mbawke is still getting a very expensive education for free. Please don't treat this situation like he's been diagnosed with cancer or a family member died. He has nobody to blame but himself here for putting himself in this situation. I don't care how many "witnesses" he has that place him elsewhere that night. When I was in college, I could've come up with 50 people to help out with an alibi. Obviously, there is information that is not public, otherwise it wouldn't drag out this long. Why would the prosecution continue forward if TB supposedly had such a valid alibi?
Click to expand...

Please, you never had 50 friends.

In all seriousness, saying you could come up with a rock solid alibi on any night is complete nonsense. Why don't you care how many "witnesses" Trevor has? Because he doesn't have as many as you would? Do you know these guys personally?

I don't necessarily disagree w/Maturi's decision, and I don't mind it when people play the Devil's Advocate role, but your schtick is tired and boring. We get it, you don't agree with people on this board.
 

Quote: "I hope this does not define your tenure at the University of Minnesota."


I hope it does. Maturi has made the best possible decision for the U of M while at the same time giving due consideration to Trevor by allowing him to still be a part of the team and remain on scholarship. Well done, Joel.
 

I find it pretty hard to fault Maturi on this one... Gopher Basketball image > Trevor Mbakwe. That being said, it still is very unfortunate. Hopefully he will be suiting up for the Big 10 opener.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
Quote: "I hope this does not define your tenure at the University of Minnesota."


I hope it does. Maturi has made the best possible decision for the U of M while at the same time giving due consideration to Trevor by allowing him to still be a part of the team and remain on scholarship. Well done, Joel.
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Couldn't have said it better. Kudos Joel. We're not Iowa.
 

Art Vandelay said:
I love how people are saying things like "you're dealing with a man's life..." or "brutally ripped away".

Mbawke is still getting a very expensive education for free. Please don't treat this situation like he's been diagnosed with cancer or a family member died. He has nobody to blame but himself here for putting himself in this situation. I don't care how many "witnesses" he has that place him elsewhere that night. When I was in college, I could've come up with 50 people to help out with an alibi. Obviously, there is information that is not public, otherwise it wouldn't drag out this long. Why would the prosecution continue forward if TB supposedly had such a valid alibi?
Click to expand...

do you live in a frickin' echo chamber or something?! you really are nothing but a self-important p.o.s.

:rolleyes:
 

chi-town gopher said:
Please, you never had 50 friends.

In all seriousness, saying you could come up with a rock solid alibi on any night is complete nonsense. Why don't you care how many "witnesses" Trevor has? Because he doesn't have as many as you would? Do you know these guys personally?

I don't necessarily disagree w/Maturi's decision, and I don't mind it when people play the Devil's Advocate role, but your schtick is tired and boring. We get it, you don't agree with people on this board.
Click to expand...

your response to art = brilliant. thank you! :clap:
 

Can someone please explain to me how he is "protecting the University" by doing this? I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around that one.
 

He has nobody to blame but himself for putting himself in this situation? He hasn't been found guilty, so he didn't necessarily put himself in any situation. If he's innocent, how can you say he put himself in a bad situation? Also, if he's innocent, that is kind of a big deal that he's losing this year of bball and taking that hit to his rep. Yeah, he's still getting the education, but let's be honest, Trevor's goal and reason for being at the U is to play basketball in the hope of making it to the NBA. This isn't to say that he doesn't have a chance now, but being injured freshman year, transferring to JUCO sophomore year, then sitting out jr year due to legal issues, all of these factors probably don't help his chances too much. This was a big year for him to prove himself and now he has to sit out and watch Royce and Carter pass him on the depth chart. I'm not saying he is innocent, but if he is, how would you feel if you were in his situation?

Art Vandelay said:
I love how people are saying things like "you're dealing with a man's life..." or "brutally ripped away".

Mbawke is still getting a very expensive education for free. Please don't treat this situation like he's been diagnosed with cancer or a family member died. He has nobody to blame but himself here for putting himself in this situation. I don't care how many "witnesses" he has that place him elsewhere that night. When I was in college, I could've come up with 50 people to help out with an alibi. Obviously, there is information that is not public, otherwise it wouldn't drag out this long. Why would the prosecution continue forward if TB supposedly had such a valid alibi?
Click to expand...
 

Echo or not, Maturi made the most credible decision possible. Good job Joel!
 


Art will never, I repeat Never, get my head.
 

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