As rumored, Eric Devendorf has been suspended for the rest of the year by SU for allegedly hitting a female Syracuse student in the face. The SU Judicial Board felt that he violated the university's Code of Student Conduct, which, in the police state that is SU, is worse than any other crime known to man.
Devendorf "was placed on a status of indefinite suspension from Syracuse University for a minimum of one academic term," according to a letter from Judicial Affairs faxed to Richard Kesnig, attorney for Kimberly Smith, the 20-year-old SU junior who accused Devendorf of punching her in the face Nov. 1
The letter prohibits Devendorf from being on SU property or taking part in any programs offered by the university, Kesnig said.
"Any programs offered by the university" wouls certainly include basketball although Devo does have the right to appeal the suspension and he intends to. While he appeals he will continue to play for the Orange, which means he will still suit up for this Saturday's game against Long Beach State.
The article goes on to explain the appeals process which just makes my already heavy head spin further. JThe disturbing teruth is, something like this has been a long time coming for the SU Basketball program. Between CheesesteakGate, the sexual assault charges and now this, SU's current roster is seemingly littered with more moments of bad judgement than the previous 10 seasons combined. This was the logical tipping point.
It's a shame that the national resurgence of Syracuse basketball will now have this black cloud hanging over it. Forgotten (for now) is the fact that multiple other basketball players were present on the night in question, some of whom were also present for the aforementioned alleged sexual assault a few months back. If the players needed a wake-up call, they just got it. In the form of 14 points per game and a ton of experience that might not be on the Carrie Dome court much longer, possibly ever again.
Plenty more questions and issues to ponder, least of which is what this means to the starting line-up. But for now, while this judgement isn't proof that Eric Devendorf did what he was accused of, you can certainly understand the decision based on the evidence presented. To be continued...