I am completely done with Royce White. We need to move past him and his distractions to a good basketball team. First off, though I'm really disappointed with our 3 consecutive losses, we lost by a combined total of 11 points. Don't try to tell me that we would have won if we had Royce because we have no idea how good he really is against college level competition. We are going to be fine moving forward. We hit a rough patch in the schedule against some pretty decent teams. I would have liked to have Royce playing for us, but now I realize that he is going to end up in prison if he continues his habits. Most people on here don't know the extent of his attitude problems and his lack of acceptance of the rules that everyone has to abide by. He as been kicked out of numerous living situations (at least 3, but I've heard 4) in his short three months here at the University. As a student that knows someone living in Territorial Hall, it's not sounding like Royce had nothing to do with the laptop theft. That said, I still think Royce will not be charged or punished in this event because of lack of conclusive evidence. Don't forget about Royce's being kicked out of De La Salle or his terrible anger issues while on the basketball court. Stealing one hundred dollar worth of clothes from MOA is where it starts to get excessive. Basketball players get college paid for, a meal plan paid for, a stipend, and clothing provided to them! The video link posted before shows it all. In our society today, you can gently shove somebody and end up being charged with something, but what is apparent in the video is that Royce maliciously attacks this security guard. And what happens to him? He gets his charge reduced to a Disorderly Conduct. Bringing him back will not teach him anything. We are talking about a human being here, not just a puppet basketball player. He needs to learn something through all of this. To suggest that Minnesota needs this Freshman is ridiculous, especially since he hasn't been practicing with the team. Getting him back will not help the chemistry of the team and it may even hinder it. We have a strong team. If Trevor comes back (that's another story) then we can fill this 'gap,' but even without Trevor we are still fine. I am not against giving people second chances or even third chances, but Royce's actions are out of hand. I think, at most, Royce should be redshirted and possibly given a chance to play next year if he can keep his head out of his behind. To continually make excuses for his mistakes is wrong too. Everyone keeps saying that 'kids will be kids and make poor decisions.' Royce is not a kid! He is 18, making him a man. I've made my share of poor decisions and let me tell you that the University hasn't just let my punishment slide. I 'served my time' so to say and learned some important lessons believe it or not. My final thought is for all of you readers to look at this from a different perspective. I absolutely loved Royce as he was coming into the University and I really had no reason at all to love him other than people saying he was going to be good at basketball. Think if Royce was just some average 18-year-old and you didn't have to worry about him playing for our beloved Gophers.
Wouldn't you want him to be punished with a firm hand and hope to turn his life in a positive direction? If it was me who had done all of these idiotic acts I would have been kicked out of the University a long time ago and may even be spending a brief time in the slammer. How I see it now is that people's morals will change if it can benefit them in some way (like possibly having a better basketball team). If Royce comes back, which I hope he doesn't, I will not idolize him. I will, however, still be cheering for my Gophs!
Man it feels good to get that off my shoulders.
