Castiglione: If We Knew DGB Did Something Wrong, He Wouldn’t Be @ OU

I like the one about Goldilocks & The Three Bears better...


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Inside Read: Rice video may affect how schools deal with troubled players

BY PETE THAMEL & THAYER EVANS
Posted: Mon Sep. 15, 2014

In April, Missouri star Dorial Green-Beckham busted into the home of his girlfriend with such force that he broke through the drywall surrounding the door. He pushed one of her roommates down four stairs, according to a police report of the incident, and then the 6-foot-6, 225-pound wide receiver dragged his girlfriend out of the apartment by her neck.

Missouri kicked Green-Beckham off the team but he was never charged with a crime. His girlfriend’s roommate declined to press charges, saying she feared the backlash from fans and attention from the media. Police called Green-Beckham’s girlfriend “extremely uncooperative,” and police records show she texted her roommate: “Football really is all he has going for him, and pressing charges would ruin it for him completely.”

Three months later, Green-Beckham was accepted at Oklahoma, getting a fresh start with one of the most successful football programs in the country. It was a move that Sooners athletic director Joe Castiglione admitted the school would be unlikely to repeat today. “If someone presented a case like that now, I think you would be fair to say that he probably wouldn’t be at Oklahoma,” Castiglione said.

The video released last week of Baltimore Ravens star tailback Ray Rice punching his then-fiancée in an Atlantic City elevator has led to a heightened awareness around college athletics. It will be more difficult for schools to rely on the fact that a player wasn’t charged or preach that a player has “learned his lesson,” according to several college officials who spoke to The Inside Read.

Castiglione stressed that Oklahoma didn’t regret admitting Green-Beckham. His stance that OU may not take Green-Beckham now is simply reflective of how the scrutiny level has changed. “Just because of the attention and the cases now in the public consciousness, the university would have been unlikely to take on a situation like that,” Castiglione said.

Multiple collegiate officials echoed the notion of a heightened sense of awareness of domestic issues. Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said it was a “good question” whether a player like Green-Beckham could transfer to a high-profile school now, but also expressed skepticism that talented players will be left on the sidelines because of troubled pasts. West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck said schools need to double down on education about domestic issues.

“The sensitivity is at an all-time high,” Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw said. “Just as the NFL is under a great deal of scrutiny right now, the same is true in college athletics.”

Oklahoma may be the epicenter for this issue at the college level, as Green-Beckham isn’t the only Sooner who has been accused of violence against a woman. In July, freshman tailback Joe Mixon, a five-star recruit, was charged with punching a 20-year-old female in the face, fracturing her jaw, cheekbone and orbital bone. The incident occurred at a late-night eatery and was caught on tape, but police have not released the video. It was shown to approximately 40 media members in early September, and, according to reports, the female slapped Mixon and he punched her, and she stayed on the ground for about half a minute. He then left the scene.

Mixon faces a misdemeanor assault charge (he pleaded not guilty and has a court date later this month) and the university suspended him for a year, but many have questioned why he is still enrolled in school.

In January, Sooners linebacker Frank Shannon was accused of sexually assaulting a female student, an allegation that became public in April. The local district attorney declined to press charges, but Shannon is serving a one-year suspension for violating the school’s sexual misconduct policy. He’s maintained his innocence.

During a nearly two-hour discussion on Sunday, Castiglione sounded like a guy caught in between defending the university’s housing of several players accused of crimes against women and one acknowledging the new reality. Castiglione pointed out that Green-Beckham has behaved well at Oklahoma and he didn’t want his comments to make him feel unwelcome. “I don’t want to create the impression that you are here, but you shouldn’t be here,” he said.

At one point, he cautioned against comparing cases like those of Rice and Green-Beckham, as Rice was arrested, charged and later entered a diversion program for first-time offenders. Castiglione pointed out that Green-Beckham was never charged and also said Oklahoma officials, including the compliance office, researched Green-Beckham thoroughly. (Green-Beckham has been involved in two marijuana incidents, one which he was charged in.) “If we knew he had done something wrong,” Castiglione said, “I can assure you he would not be here.”

But Green-Beckham, who is sitting out this year as a transfer, clearly did something wrong or he’d still be at Missouri, and the details in the police report shed light on why the women who could have pressed charges against him did not.

There were a few days of bad publicity, but the story about Green-Beckham's transfer shifted from the ethics of whether Oklahoma should have taken him to his waiver request and his potential eligibility this season. The waiver was denied. The negative publicity died down and Oklahoma ended up with a player who was the country’s No. 1 recruit in 2012 and led Missouri with 12 touchdown catches last season as a sophomore. He's redshirting this season.

“Whatever he may or may not have done,” Castoglione said, “he is trying to become a better person.”

As time passes, will anything really change in the long term? Bowlsby predicts that the Rice incident will not deter schools from taking talented players with troubled pasts.

“The fact is that if sometimes a person is a good enough player, institutions may overlook missteps,” Bowlsby said. “I’m not necessarily talking about sexual assault or violence, but they may be accused of stealing or academic problems. I’m guessing there would be a time that Ray Rice ends up in playing in the NFL again. There will be an organization willing to take him on because he’s a good enough player.”