Are the eggheads intent

[Vader_Storm]

Until I know all the facts (and they will likely never be known), I can't agree with that. While Capel and the athletics dept may have been confident in his reinstatement, what was the reason for that confidence? It just seems to me that a decision was made to dismiss him early on. Then he appealed. If anything, Pitt was overly generous in allowing him to practice and travel while the appeal process was ongoing. I have no idea if the typical process takes this long or not. If it is typical, then it was not handled poorly. Regardless, the confidence in a reinstatement was not justified as the initial decision to dismiss was upheld.

I say this as someone who is highly critical of the university in many of its decisions.

Johnson pleaded guilty to 2 misdemeanors on December 9th of 2022.

He was reinstated back to the basketball team in December of 2022 with Lyke's approval.



We are 5 days away from September 2023. We are talking a span of almost 9 whole months in which he was back with the program, at practice, and traveling with the team in Spain since the plea decision. And the plea deal would have been reached long before December 9th so everyone including Pitt and Lyke should have known what to expect on that day.



It doesn't take 9 months to make a decision on something like this. This is the very definition of "pitting" the entire basketball program including the staff and his teammates along with the athletic director.


As I said above, I would have understood why he wouldn't be allowed to come back in the first place. However, not 9 months down the road as we are entering the fall semester.

 

[DT_PITT]

Until I know all the facts (and they will likely never be known), I can't agree with that. While Capel and the athletics dept may have been confident in his reinstatement, what was the reason for that confidence? It just seems to me that a decision was made to dismiss him early on. Then he appealed. If anything, Pitt was overly generous in allowing him to practice and travel while the appeal process was ongoing. I have no idea if the typical process takes this long or not. If it is typical, then it was not handled poorly. Regardless, the confidence in a reinstatement was not justified as the initial decision to dismiss was upheld.

I say this as someone who is highly critical of the university in many of its decisions.

It sounds like where we might agree is the timing of the process and allowing Dior to practice and travel being overly generous. Like you, I don’t know if the length of this process is typical. Regardless, this would have been better for all involved, including Dior, if this was all in appeal that everyone should have been directed to operate like Dior wasn’t reinstated until he actually was.

 

[DT_PITT]

Johnson pleaded guilty to 2 misdemeanors on December 9th of 2022.

He was reinstated back to the basketball team in December of 2022 with Lyke's approval.



We are 5 days away from September 2023. We are talking a span of almost 9 whole months in which he was back with the program, at practice, and traveling with the team in Spain since the plea decision. And the plea deal would have been reached long before December 9th so everyone including Pitt and Lyke should have known what to expect on that day.



It doesn't take 9 months to make a decision on something like this. This is the very definition of "pitting" the entire basketball program including the staff and his teammates along with the athletic director.


As I said above, I would have understood why he wouldn't be allowed to come back in the first place. However, not 9 months down the road as we are entering the fall semester.

I think the question is what “reinstatement” actually was. If there was an appeal going on, then there is the question as to whether he was completely reinstated. What we do know is that it surely looked that way.

 

[DT_PITT]

I have often been critical of Heather Lyke. However, this is not the way that she handles things. This certainly was not her decision. Is it ironic that we have a new chancellor? I don’t know what else it could be. This certainly gives the entire university a bad look. Decisions like this get people like Barnes and Stallings into our athletic department. None of this makes any sense.

I respect that there is the look of the new chancellor being involved with the timing of everything. But I have been told unequivocally by several that this decision was no where near her radar.

 

[Chescat]

I think the question is what “reinstatement” actually was. If there was an appeal going on, then there is the question as to whether he was completely reinstated. What we do know is that it surely looked that way.

I do agree with what you're now saying about "reinstatement" and what it
meant in Dior's situation. Like most on here, I thought he was now officially
a member of this year's team, and as a student here at Pitt. If he were in
a "probationary" or other type of temporary status that should have been
made explicitly clear. I wonder about this, because it seems obvious that Capel
was fully expecting him to be a part of the team. If Capel himself wasn't clear
on this, then there was a large lack of communication within certain departments
at Pitt.
I have to believe there is a disciplinary process with a board at Pitt that makes
decisions and handles appeals. We still do not definitely know all the what's and
whys. I'm not sure we ever will.

 

[DT_PITT]

I do agree with what you're now saying about "reinstatement" and what it
meant in Dior's situation. Like most on here, I thought he was now officially
a member of this year's team, and as a student here at Pitt. If he were in
a "probationary" or other type of temporary status that should have been
made explicitly clear. I wonder about this, because it seems obvious that Capel
was fully expecting him to be a part of the team. If Capel himself wasn't clear
on this, then there was a large lack of communication within certain departments
at Pitt.
I have to believe there is a disciplinary process with a board at Pitt that makes
decisions and handles appeals. We still do not definitely know all the what's and
whys. I'm not sure we ever will.

I mean … he was on the roster on the Pitt Hoops website. That surely looks pretty darn reinstated to me, don’t you think?

 

[DT_PITT]

I do agree with what you're now saying about "reinstatement" and what it
meant in Dior's situation. Like most on here, I thought he was now officially
a member of this year's team, and as a student here at Pitt. If he were in
a "probationary" or other type of temporary status that should have been
made explicitly clear. I wonder about this, because it seems obvious that Capel
was fully expecting him to be a part of the team. If Capel himself wasn't clear
on this, then there was a large lack of communication within certain departments
at Pitt.
I have to believe there is a disciplinary process with a board at Pitt that makes
decisions and handles appeals. We still do not definitely know all the what's and
whys. I'm not sure we ever will.

You mentioned the lack of communication. This is my issue as well. Every communication surely looked like full reinstatement.

 

[Chescat]

I mean … he was on the roster on the Pitt Hoops website. That surely looks pretty darn reinstated to me, don’t you think?

Like I said above, "Like most on here, I thought he was officially a memebr
of this year's team, and a student at Pitt." So obviously, the answer is yes.
My questions are in the area of process, and communication. It's not even
about what he did, and it was pretty damn egregious behavior to begin with.
We probably are agreeing pretty much on this.

 

[DT_PITT]

Like I said above, "Like most on here, I thought he was officially a memebr
of this year's team, and a student at Pitt." So obviously, the answer is yes.
My questions are in the area of process, and communication. It's not even
about what he did, and it was pretty damn egregious behavior to begin with.
We probably are agreeing pretty much on this.

We agree completely. My rhetorical question wasn’t posed at you but actually in support of you.

 

[Chescat]

Yes, we're on the same page, especially with "process and "communication" (or
lack thereof). As for process, I'm obviously not in the loop when it comes to
how Pitt handles discipline cases. As for "heirarchy," the Pitt disciplinary
process (board) might be the last word on these decisions. That might even
include Lyke and her position as AD. As for the chancellor, I would assume he/she
would be the last word and would have the power to over rule a decision. My
sense is she wouldn't come in here, brand spanking new and make a decision
reinstating or over ruling renistatement.

 

[Oregon_Panther]

This is a travesty on so many levels.

First, Dior was wrong in his actions last year.

Second, nine months to make a decision is horrible. Either you let him back on team (and red shirting him, letting him travel to Spain, on the team website roster) or you tell him until this is resolved, you’re not part of the team. But nine months later is a bad look for the University.

Third, though the new chancellor may not have been involved in the decision, but by being at the top of the leadership team, she now owns the decision. If she does nothing, she accepts and is fine with the nine month timeline and the decision. Her other prerogative may be for herself to personally review the decision and say yah or nah.

Fourth, this undermines Lyke and Capel. They worked together to bring him back and set the standards with which he could return. It appears he abided by the standards and should be allowed to return. For Heather and Jeff, it’s a slap in the face and disrespectful of their authority.

Since this is a travesty on so many levels, I would hope Heather/Jeff would ask the Chancellor to review the process and decision.

Hail to PITT!
-al-

 

[NCanton Panther]

You keep stating that he was reinstated. All indications are that isn't true. He was allowed to stay while he appealed. The unstated question is what was he appealing. Logic makes one think that he was appealing a dismissal. That dismissal became official when his appeal was denied. It has nothing to with his behavior or "conditions" since his previous "apparent" dismissal.

Yep, I was mistaken on that, thought he had been reinstated but now see from later posts that his appeal was left hanging and a final decision never made by Pitt.

But now knowing that, and seeing it took Pitt this long to make a decision significantly impacting an individual’s future, I’d say it’s still fairly inexcusable on Pitt’s part.

 

[NCPitt]

Johnson pleaded guilty to 2 misdemeanors on December 9th of 2022.

He was reinstated back to the basketball team in December of 2022 with Lyke's approval.



We are 5 days away from September 2023. We are talking a span of almost 9 whole months in which he was back with the program, at practice, and traveling with the team in Spain since the plea decision. And the plea deal would have been reached long before December 9th so everyone including Pitt and Lyke should have known what to expect on that day.



It doesn't take 9 months to make a decision on something like this. This is the very definition of "pitting" the entire basketball program including the staff and his teammates along with the athletic director.


As I said above, I would have understood why he wouldn't be allowed to come back in the first place. However, not 9 months down the road as we are entering the fall semester.

You say that. But do you have any clue what the appeal process entails and whether this is a typical or atypical time frame?

The decision was made on the academic side so it likely was driven by the academic calendar rather than the basketball calendar. The decision was made before the start of the academic semester. That seems to the driver here.

 

[pittchagg]

You say that. But do you have any clue what the appeal process entails and whether this is a typical or atypical time frame?

The decision was made on the academic side so it likely was driven by the academic calendar rather than the basketball calendar. The decision was made before the start of the academic semester. That seems to the driver here.

The university resources indicate that most appeals are resolved within 30 business days, so it definitely seems like things were slow here.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

The university resources indicate that most appeals are resolved within 30 business days, so it definitely seems like things were slow here.

Is it possible that Dior continued to appeal until it could not he appealed any longer?

 

[pittchagg]

Is it possible that Dior continued to appeal until it could not he appealed any longer?

From everything I’ve seen, you get one appeal with the university. If you lose, your option is then some sort of federal civil rights/due process lawsuit, which (a) doesn’t seem to have happened here, and (b) has a very low likelihood of success.

 

[Parkview57]

C'mon people, in 99.9% of things like this the dismissed party did not meet the requirements set forth, it is who these people are, most probable item is Dior did not satisfy terms.

 

[pittchagg]

C'mon people, in 99.9% of things like this the dismissed party did not meet the requirements set forth, it is who these people are, most probable item is Dior did not satisfy terms.

That does not appear to be what happened here.

 

[cruzer]

Johnson pleaded guilty to 2 misdemeanors on December 9th of 2022.

He was reinstated back to the basketball team in December of 2022 with Lyke's approval.



We are 5 days away from September 2023. We are talking a span of almost 9 whole months in which he was back with the program, at practice, and traveling with the team in Spain since the plea decision. And the plea deal would have been reached long before December 9th so everyone including Pitt and Lyke should have known what to expect on that day.



It doesn't take 9 months to make a decision on something like this. This is the very definition of "pitting" the entire basketball program including the staff and his teammates along with the athletic director.


As I said above, I would have understood why he wouldn't be allowed to come back in the first place. However, not 9 months down the road as we are entering the fall semester.

Agree 100%

Unless something comes out that he had some other incident after his reinstatement, then this is a complete sh(* show. I'm not arguing that he shouldn't have been thrown out of Pitt. I don't have all the details of the case. That said, once he was reinstated, the decision should be final. It's completely unfair to the kid to string him along and then throw him under the bus after 9 months. Now he has to find a new program right before the start of the season. It's also unfair to his team mates who were no doubt counting on him to contribute.

Unless new information comes out regarding another violation, there is no excuse for how this situation was handled.

Cruzer

 

[TD_6082]

Ultimately, it was dumb to recruit a kid like this in the first place. It was even dumber to retain him after last year's incident.

 

[NCPitt]

The university resources indicate that most appeals are resolved within 30 business days, so it definitely seems like things were slow here.

If that's true, then the university did handle it badly.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

The university resources indicate that most appeals are resolved within 30 business days, so it definitely seems like things were slow here.

Can we stop with this non-sense? There was no "appeal." Any appeal likely happened last September and he was admitted to school for the Spring semester and was on the basketball team. There were some Pitt students (and others) not happy with Dior being there (and rightfully so). There was an article written about it last March. The new leadership team made the decision that him being a student at Pitt wasnt worth the bad look or any risk. This wasnt some year long appeal that finally finished. They corrected what they perceived to be the prior admin's mistake. Now, hopefully, they can get us into the Patriot League.

 

[pittchagg]

I’m going to stand by the way I described it.

 

[CrazyPaco]

If that's true, then the university did handle it badly.

I agree, if that is true, and there aren't reasons it took so long...meaning intentionally delays from the defendant side.

 

[CrazyPaco]

So was this process through student affairs or something else?

 

[Fsgolfdr]

That this was an appeal was allowed to go far too long giving most everyone the impression he was coming back. But basically he lost the appeal. But this was handled very poorly.

To say the least !

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Or you could look at it the other way that the university and the AD gave the guy more chances than he actually deserved? I mean, he has been taking classes all this while so obviously he has proven his academic level (which must not be very good).

Oh and let’s not forget this guy’s very checkered past, both pre-Pitt and at Pitt.

Maybe he flunked out academically! In any case, he was not fit to be a college athlete at Pitt and the mistake was corrected, even if it was late. Something serious must have happened with him recently that none of us will ever know about. Pitt owed him nothing as far as advance notice of being tossed. We need to quit coddling these kids who are malcontents and criminals.