One wonders if this could possibly be true.....

Bob Huggins Suspends Player for Attending Class


Cincinnati head basketball coach Bob Huggins suspended starting forward Jason Maxiell for two games today after he caught the senior attending class. The Bearcats did not have a practice scheduled at the time, but Huggins said he did not appreciate his leading scorer wasting time in class so late in the season.“Our backs are to the wall right now,” said Huggins. “If we don’t win some ballgames we’re going to be on the outside looking in at the NCAA Tournament. There’s no time to be adding or drawing or sorting stuff or whatever it is that goes on in college classes. My players need to focus strictly on basketball.”

Maxiell, who said he attended class to take an economics midterm, will not suit up for Cincinnati’s upcoming games against Southern Miss and UAB.“I understand Coach’s decision to punish me,” said Maxiell. “He has rules and we have to stick by them if we want to play for him. Sure, I’d love to graduate and get my degree, but Coach Huggins has other plans for me.”

Huggins said his suspension of Maxiell is an example of the new, tougher approach he has taken with his team after he was suspended by the university during the summer for, in part, losing control of his players.“People said I was too lax with my team and I decided that I didn’t want my program to have a bad reputation,” said Huggins. “Since returning from my suspension, I’ve made it clear to the team and all of our recruits that I will not allow one person to claim my team puts more focus in the classroom than they do on the floor.”

With a strong message sent to his team with the suspension of Maxiell, Huggins appears intent on maintaining his program’s zero percent graduation rate.“I am immensely proud of not graduating players on time,” said Huggins. “I am here for two reasons: to win basketball games and to send players to the NBA. I leave all that nurturing and enlightening crap to their parole officers. Tell me Kenyon Martin has any use for a college degree right now in the NBA and I’ll tell you the capital of Ohio. That’s right – you can’t honestly tell me that, nor can I name the capital of Ohio.”