Andre
Allen — the basketball player — would not have made a difference for the Memphis
Tigers in this weekend’s Final Four. There are eight players on John Calipari’s
roster who stand above Allen in value to this remarkable team, including two
other point guards. But Andre Allen — the suspended basketball player — may in
fact play a bigger role than the young man in uniform ever has.
Suspended for failing an NCAA-mandated drug test, Allen will be in Memphis with
the vast majority of Tiger Nation this weekend, cheering in front of his
television. The player with the brightest smile on his team — the player who has
led his team onto the court for pregame warm-ups all season long — will be no
more than a long-distance spectator. And this compromises what may have been the
most charming angle to a championship season: Local kid with bumpy background
reaches his sport’s promised land, net around his neck, that smile illuminating
San Antonio’s Alamo Dome. Can’t guarantee which team will win two games this
weekend, but we can be certain that’s one image we won’t see.
Allen
knew better. He’s almost 23 years old, a father, and a member of Calipari’s
program for four full seasons (the first one spent out of uniform, focusing on
academics and dealing with charges of soliciting a prostitute). He was an
eyewitness to the troubled days of former teammates Sean Banks and Jeremy Hunt,
not to mention the transgressions before and during this past season involving
Joey Dorsey, Shawn Taggart, Jeff Robinson, and Robert Dozier. He knew this
special team — winners of 37 out of 38 games — was performing without a safety
net. Coaches and administrators, to say nothing of the national media and fans
across the country, were ready with an iron fist for any behavior that
threatened the gallant march of a team with national-title aspirations.
And
Allen’s coach knew better, too. Calipari certainly knew of the drug-testing
procedures during the NCAA tournament. Whether or not he had concerns about the
recreational preferences of his players, he should have made a message
dramatically clear: Clean up, and act right. At the very least, until this team
has achieved all it can. (On Calipari’s behalf, he is NOT the father of any
player he suits up. Beyond their days in a Tiger uniform, the responsibility
rests with each young man to steer himself along the right path. And who knows
whether or not Allen listened to any such message from his coach?)
“I’m not
coaching my team against Pepperdine. I’m coaching my team against itself. We
have to hold these guys accountable, because the picture is bigger than
Pepperdine.” Calipari spoke those words after the Tigers spanked an overmatched
Pepperdine team January 5th. And he’ll be reminding the players who travel with
him to San Antonio about this very sentiment. The shortcomings of one player
have introduced a distraction that will be part of this team’s Final Four
venture, for good or ill. The team will either “overcome the distraction” and
win a long-elusive national championship, or the team will “fall victim to
off-the-court” distractions.
The
picture is indeed bigger than Pepperdine. Here’s hoping the picture is bigger
than Andre Allen.
