Quote Originally Posted by unclejohn View Post
I totally admit that I am completely biased. Not only is Brian one of ours, but I have always liked him. While he was at Marquette, and afterward, he always conducted himself as a perfect gentleman. I went down to Rockford to interview him when he was down there. He was great. He didn't need to be.

Looking at these two cases, at least as they are set out, I am not all that impressed. One is from a walk-on with a pretty notorious mother. The other seems to be about the same. Here is a kid who started out as the player of the year in Iowa, lasted one year at the state school, and was a fair player at Green Bay. While I would not find it acceptable for a coach to ridicule a player with mental illness problems, I can see a coach getting on a kid if he fails to take his medication, melts down during a game, and creates a crisis. I can understand a coach telling a player that he has to take responsibility for his own health and being ready to play. That does not mean not getting the flu. It does mean taking the medication you know you need to stay mentally balanced. I also look at this and wonder why Mom was not allowed to talk to the head coach while her son was on (as she notes deserved) academic probation. First, what does she need to talk to the coach about, exactly? To get him to talk to profs to up the kid's grades? If she got shuffled off to his trusted assistant, I think it was more a matter of "I don't have time to deal with this woman right now. You handle it."

There may be more to the matter than that. An investigation is in order. But so far, I have not seen more than a few parents whose noses are out of joint.

I think we should let the investigation play out because my understanding is that there are more than just a couple unhappy fringe players. Again, nothing physical... I think Wardle may have made some mistakes recruiting wise and has some players who may not have been good fits with his program and what he is trying to do.