Coming to the next issue of the ‘Evening Whirl’
The fans of the University of Missouri men’s basketball team are hot for Huggy.
Bob Huggins, the former successful and equally controversial coach at the University of Cincinnati, is a wanted man in Columbia, if you listen to the zealous fandom that is eager to get back into the NCAA Tournament after several underachieving seasons under former boss Quin Snyder.
It is amazing what happens when the thought of victories gets in the way of all good sense. Despite all of the shenanigans of the Snyder era that led to NCAA investigations and sanctions, the Boone County fandom appears ready to open their arms up to one of the outcasts of an outlaw program.
The signing of Ricky Clemons turned out to be the death knell of the Quin Snyder era at Mizzou. The signing of just one player turned the Tigers from a potential Final Four team to a program that is now a joke and a national disgrace.
But, Ricky Clemons is only one player and he can only do such much damage.
How about a starting lineup of them.
The Sports Eye introduces you to the Bob Huggins All-Stars. In the interest of brevity and space limitations, we will skip over the transgressions such as drug possession, firearms violations, brawling and get to the really good stuff.
Dontonio Wingfield: Former McDonald’s All-American who nearly tore up his mother’s house when she would relinquished the car keys to her high school son. The police had to come in and take him away. Five years later after a brief NBA career, Wingfield was arrested and sent to jail for assaulting two police officers.
Art Long: Evidently a fan of the classic movie Blazing Saddles, the 6’9” center punched a police horse. Candygram for Mongo.
Rueben Patterson: The NBA has only one registered sex offender. You guessed it. It is this proud former Bearcat who did the nasty (illegally) with his teenage nanny.
Keith LeGree: A former player and assistant coach under Huggins who had trouble grasping the fact that drinking and driving is a no-no. LeGree was repeatedly cited for this offense and eventually let go.
Donald Little: Perhaps the star of the class. Billed as the next Kenyon Martin, Little instead became UC’s version of Tony Soprano. Little was once cited for speeding in a work zone, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and driving with a suspended license and possession of marijuana. Donald was just getting started. He was also arrested for kicking a female tavern manager in the stomach and punching a male bartender. And to top it off, he was nabbed for kidnapping a roommate, tying him to a lawn chair and beating him with a whiskey bottle and burning him with cigarettes and hot hangers. After the beatdown, Little allegedly told his friends to dump the roommate into the river.
Nice.
Come on Mizzou, things cannot be that bleak in Columbia.