Now that we've had a few days to digest all the various Myron Strong comments, along with a few comments from Tim Floyd and UTEP, it's clear to me Strong's departure is just the old tale of a coach wanting to clear out a player so he could offer a scholarship to someone else.
But though that tale is old and familiar, it rarely gets this sordid. Most players forced out quietly move on to the next gig; probably because they don't want to admit they weren't good enough ballers for the coach to overlook their transgressions.
Not Myron Strong. He comes out swinging and admits Floyd didn't want him on the team from day one.
Some of Strong's accusations are laughable: Like the one that "sources" tell him Floyd held a fake charity event to help pay O.J. Mayo $100,000. Somehow the NCAA couldn't track that one down, but Myron "Inspector Gadget" Strong's investigation is turning up big stuff. That's silly, and no one should be worried about it.
What's less laughable is the accusation Strong made to Miner Rush and elsewhere that many of his teammates failed a drug test. UTEP fans will have to hope this outing will scare the players straight.
Reaction to the affair has broken into two camps. The locals are rushing to support Floyd, while most of the national sports media is getting their first chance to tell UTEP, "I told you so." Looking around, it's clear Floyd has a lot of enemies in the national media.
Maybe this is just a one-time incident, but the fact that Strong's departure turned so ugly and sordid when most departures are quiet and peaceful makes me worry we're going to be hearing a lot more "I told you so" in the years to come.
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