Stefon returns

I'm not sure it's good that Stefon Jackson has decided to remain at UTEP for his senior year. He did it, of course, because he was convinced he wouldn't be drafted by the NBA this summer.

Normally, it's politically correct to say something like this: "The young man decided to continue his education — get that important college degree — and for that he should be applauded." But I get the feeling Jackson, like so many others here and at other schools, is at UTEP to further a promising basketball career. And that he has. He has the God-given talent.

But Jackson has baggage now, and I'm not sure that's good for UTEP.

The DA chose not to prosecute Jackson after he was arrested by Sheriff's deputies, who said he lied to them. He said he didn't know the whereabouts of one man from his home state, although three persons said Jackson rented the man a room at a local motel. The man was wanted in Pennsylvania on several counts, including two for attempted murder. The man was driving Jackson's car at the time he was apprehended by authorities.

When Jackson was arrested at is apartment, he was asked if he knew the whereabouts of a second man. Jackson said no, but Sheriff's deputies found the man hiding under Jackson's bed. The man was wanted for murder.

That brought up the question of where Jackson lives. It's in the gated Camelot Townhomes, which TV station Channel 7 reported charges $1,850 a month for rent. The arrest report showed that the apartment is owned by former UTEP and NBA player Greg Foster. That brings up questions about boosters helping athletes, which NCAA rules generally forbid.

That's baggage.

I know there's a mind-set in some circles that nobody rats out a friend to the cops. The cops are the enemy. That's not right. That's very wrong. But that's how some think.

Jackson certainly has the talent to play professional basketball. He should have signed on with a team in Europe and started his career one year early.

Comments

[Jack]

Hey Joe,

SHUT UP!!!!!!

[Miner Fan]

Joe,
I ususlly enjoy your blogs and how you rile people up but I think this latest blog is just mean spirited. You should be embarrassed that you put this out for public consumption.

[just a thought]

Politically correct? Hardly, but to say an athlete should leave early for a so-so career in European professional basketball in lieu of a degree is bad advice. UTEP made the list again this year for paltry graduation rates among its athletes. This trend has more lasting affect than Stefon playing another season.

Not to lose anyone here but young black males have a far greater shot at an early death or imprisonment than a college degree--a free one no less. While lottery picks can afford to leave college early and bank their signing bonus, only a few European players are compensated as such. Stefon is one play away from being an ex-pro with a degree or one without. If your son was lucky/unlucky enough to be in Stefon's position one might think otherwise.

[Guy Fawks]

Now, usually I'm not one to agree with Joe...or anyone else here for that matter but I have to back Joe up on this one. Stefon is bringing baggage to a school that doesn't need it. And now that they've discovered what it costs to live in those apartments and who that apartment is owned by, it raises eyebrows because student athletes don't make near enough with their scholarship stipend to live somewhere like that. UTEP Basketball doesn't need that.

Why are people defending Jackson? He lied to the cops and he got caught! Granted it would have been better had he lied to the cops and didn't get caught and none of us would be talking about this but Stefon messed up and now people are acting like THE MAN is out to get him.

Jackson might be a good player but he would get buried in the NBA. He should have left. UTEP can deal with another bad year and use it as a year to rebuild and find another star.

Stop defending him. He did something wrong. Get over it.

[Nope]

Guy, show me the evidence that shows Jackson did anything wrong? Show me where Jackson knew that his cousin was a felon, please. If you can find that please present it in court. Apparently nobody can find that, and the facts show he did not know and it cannot be proven that he knew his cousin was a felon. On the other hand, I can easily point to these blogs and factually show that you and Joe are morons. That will hold up in any court.

Expecting a great year from UTEP, both academically and athletically.

[Lowercase Ray]

I agree with many of my fellow posters, though not quite as strongly as Jack and Nope. To me it is always a good thing to see a young man make a good decision rather than bad ones. I believe the chances of Stefon getting drafted in the NBA Draft this year as not being promising. Given the athletes that are on this year’s list for the draft, I believe Stefon will have a better chance in next year's draft. As for Joe’s suggestion that he go to a European Club, what happened to Omar Thomas? Since I’ve been following Miner Athletics, granted it hasn’t been that long, he was one of the best UTEP scorers that I’ve seen. He went to the European League and hasn't been heard of since.

I agree more closely with what JAT posted. I would like to see this kid, as with any other kid, do well in life. If he makes it to his dream of going to the NBA, more power to him. If he doesn’t, he needs to hedge his bet by getting a degree; have a backup plan. Deviating from the topic a bit, Coach Barbee needs to push the academics aspect to those athletes on his team more strongly. Not having met the NCAA standards has cost the basketball team a scholarship. If he doesn’t tighten that up, UTEP could be looking at harsher punishment from the NCAA. Losing a place for a deserving kid is bad enough, he needs to not let this thing snowball further. Maybe he can ask his fellow coach, Kietha, how she got all her seniors to graduate this year.

Joe you mentioned that the DA chose not to prosecute and then you made it seem as if the DA was wrong in his decision. I’m sure he reached his position because he looked at the particulars of this case and judged they didn’t merit prosecuting. He didn’t make the top prosecutor in this city by making bad judgment calls. I’m more inclined to trust his judgment in these matters.

As for the matter of how much his housing costs and who rents to him, I think that UTEP has probaly looked at or is looking at that matter. So if they deem that to not be a problem, I'll have to defer again to the pros.

Lastly, as a Miner Fan I’m happy to see him back on the team. I can now agree with Cleo and Nope that the Miners have to be considered a high contender this season in CUSA basketball.

[2myeye]

Whoa, cowboy! Who stuck the burr under your saddle.
You are taking it upon yourself to be the judge, jury, and executioner on this young man. Stick to the who, what, where, and when. Those are the basic building blocks of journalism. Or used to be.
You level some pretty damning accusations. You got back up for that? Since you are acting so childish, perhaps the label "tattletale" would suit you. Or rat. Take your choice.

[Toasted Whitebred]

Wouldn't an NCAA investigation into how an unemployed student athlete can afford an $1800 a month luxury Townhome, car and other amenities, possibly lead to sanctions against the entire team?

Hasn't Stefon done a good job of bringing this scrutiny on himself?

[Will]

The NCAA investigations are a joke. Somehow OJ Mayo will get away with all the benefits he got. A $1000+ is a least of their worries.

Let Darren Hunt run this blog, cause Joe just isn't a "favorite".

[TXINVADESNM]

Joe is a pendejo...He writes blogs just to piss people off. He is very good at that, but he sucks as a reporter and just as a simple human being. Joe, I hope one day you can be judged like you judge others and finally realize what a despicable human you are. Go Miners!

[Jim]

Like I said before on the other blog, keep the handcuffs handy.....

[Regis University Guy]

Hogwash, Stefon is a basketball player and young athelete_he's not running for political office or for the next Messiah. Mr. Muench you should know better-shame on you.

[oh please]

Just a thought...you are fooling yourself if you think this kid is going to get his degree. You think Fili has his? OT? Jason Williams? What makes you think Stefon is different from them?

Lowercase Ray...the "good" decisions Stefon needs to be making are "no, I won't let this guy hide under my bed."

[just a thought]

oh please, way to lump them all together but each one of the guys you named were individuals with circumstances and advice not privy to you or I. But some of that advice probably included "go play in Europe and make a name for yourself".

Players that don't attain a degree usually come to the realization that one doesn't hurt. See today's article on Michael Comer? He eventually finished. Kilangi Muagututia, Mike Deal and countless other athletes come back and finish.

[Monchis]

Joe, we are all well aware of your disdain for UTEP, but the fatuous, bilge you spewed regarding Stefon is repugnant, and you should be repudiated by every local UTEP fan!
What is the point of trying to make UTEP look as if it's harboring a criminal, in Stefon Jackson? The DA dropped the charges because they were without merit, due to lack of evidence!
Overzealous, idiotic deputies blew it! What surprises me is that you would support badge carrying, lying, thugs, that do and say anything to obtain a conviction!
If you have evidence to the contrary, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt, Stefon's guilt, then present it to the DA for prosecution! Otherwise, shut the hell up!
Your innuendo is nauseating, Joe!

[Micky]

Monchis, if Joe showed up to a game I'm sure the fans would kill him. Nothing more, nothing less. Tail between his legs.

[oh please]

I thought Stefon was the one supporting lying thugs that say, do anything to avoid a conviction...

[Guy Fawks]

"Nope", I never said anything about Stefon knowingly harboring a criminal. I'm saying Jackson lied to the police when they asked about his whereabouts. Two totally different things. What I was trying to say before you completely shot down an argument that wasn't there and before you called me a moron, is that Stefon lied to the police. What kind of example is Coach Barbee setting when he allows Jackson back to the team with open arms?

It's amazing that the internet can turn people, who are probably very nice in person, into jerks under the guise of anonymity.

Yes, Stefon still did something wrong, unless the cop was lying, which is something I wouldn't put past El Paso's finest.

[OMAR DOMINGUEZ]

Joe does an amazing job at creating controversy thumbs up! I bet he is very happy about it, doesn care about all those comments against him as long as we keep posting; as far as im concerned i dont have enough tools to bash him so easily but i dont agree with his comments.

At the end of all of this UTEP returns his top gun, and with the new additions to the team and those freshmen turned sophomores things look bright for the Miners!

[Monchis]

Joe was just wishing that by some sort of miracle, Stefon would not return for his senior year, because he knows with Stefon still at UTEP, the Aggies are doomed! HAH!!!!

[Lowercase Ray]

Oh please, I'm not going to disagree that he used bad judgment. He allowed people he thought were family, maybe friends to use him. Since when have kids stopped making judgment errors? We made them in my time; thank god people didn't want to throw you under the bus for them. The Law with all their resources has decided they didn't have a case. Yet some of you know better?

"A good decision", at least he hasn't compound his error by leaving school. If he's smart he'll have realized how close he came to blowing it. Stefon, do yourself a favor and finish your schooling! Coach Barbee, push these kids to finish school!

Joe, can't we please get back to talking sports; this isn't Judge Judy's Court. I guess with the end of football/basketball season, it's hard to find a sports subject that will draw bloggers.

[Sharkboy]

The reason Stefon got off was because of a technicallity. He may not have known that his cousin was wanted, but he still lied to the police, witholding information on an ongoing investigation. Joe is right in that Stefon now has baggage, and it may or may not have an effect on UTEP. One poster said that NCAA investigations are a joke, citing the OJ Mayo case.

NEWS FLASH: UTEP is not USC. Big schools will get away with things while schools like UTEP will be punished for the same offense. It's just the way it is.

[Dennis DeLoach]

Joe, it ounds like you are on a personal mission to destroy this young man. What's really your problem?

[SM]

I see points on both sides of the issue. On the one hand, Joe's last few posts seem to be really attacking toward Stefon...almost to the point of personal attacks on the kid's character. I don't know how he paid for expensive apartments, but unless we have a shred of evidence, it is somewhat irresponsible to assert somebody is cheating. Granted, you avail yourself to criticism by hiding fugitives under your bed.

On the other hand, people on this blog are a bit too quick to let Stefon off the hook. After all, Stefon was the subject of a very serious investigation. Also, this is blog life. Joe is intentionally controversial to get the conversation started. We all know that Sean Hannity and Anne Coulter don't buy in to the extreme politics they preach...but it sells books.

On the legal front, the fact that the DA dropped the charges does not mean there is "no evidence" of a crime, as Monchis put it. Rather, a DA often must make a difficult desicion of dropping charges where he/she (whoever the DA in EP is) believes that the State can not prove its burden "beyond a reasonable doubt." Many times, cases in which the alleged criminal is guilty are dropped due to the difficult standard of proof. Criminal cases carry a different standard of proof than civil cases, which operate on a preponderance of the evidence (i.e., more likely than not) standard.

I agree with JAT. Stefon has one more year of college and needs to capitalize now. Why go to Europe for a couple years, get injured, and end up with nothing? Jackson should come back, take advantage of his new lease on life, and finish up.

As an Aggie, I sure would have loved to see him go pro, but I do look forward to the Pope/Jackson match-up.

[Who's your Mumme]

SM,
Where the heck have you been? Missed you buddy!

Jackson/ Pope match up?
A guard/ forward match up?

More like a Jackson/ JY match up, right?