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By Curtis Kitchen, Sports Radio 810 WHB
(Jan. 28, 2008) � Missouri Tigers men�s basketball head coach Mike Anderson may never have another decision during his tenure as easy as this: Stefhon Hannah will never play another minute for the Tigers.
Hannah, a senior guard who leads the team in points, minutes, assists and steals, was involved in a bar �altercation� that left the 22 year old in need of surgery with a fractured jaw.
His jaw is repairable. His off-court decision making may have left his head coach�s reputation irrevocably broken.
Anderson was brought to Columbia and trumpeted as the breath of fresh air the program needed after Quin Snyder.
Five incidents in less than two full seasons, two of which included members of Anderson�s family, the freshness is stale�unless you wear black and gold.
Anderson has shown no ability to harness his team off the floor, and was it not for Gary Pinkel�s successful football program overshadowing the rest of the athletic department well into January, and, more importantly, Missouri supporters� extreme distaste for Snyder, Anderson and his group of saints would be a much larger topic of conversation.
By all accounts, Mike Anderson is a good guy. And, because Missouri has wanted so desperately to distance itself from Snyder, the new guy has somehow been allowed to float above the cesspool his players� actions formed.
And, if Anderson wants to remain there, if he wants to save some shred of his credibility, he has to act.
Because of his players, Anderson was forced to issue a zero-tolerance policy. That policy is now the only option Anderson has.
He knows it. Hannah should have known it. Missouri athletic director Mike Alden, who still carries fresh scars from the Snyder disaster, won�t let Anderson forget it.
Is it to say Hannah�s actions warrant being removed from the program? When this situation is compared to the other Tigers� troubles (son Mike Anderson Jr. � DUI; nephew DeMarre Carroll � shot in ankle at Columbia nightclub; Kalen Grimes � hit a man in the face with the butt of a shotgun; Darryl Butterfield � arrested on third-degree assault charge after punching an ex-girlfriend), and all of those players except Grimes are still on the team, dismissal even seems harsh.
Unfortunately, because of the precedent set by his teammates, Hannah�s college career just took a knockout shot to the jaw.
Anderson�s reputation as a coach can�t allow Hannah another moment on the floor.
Not if he wants to remain in Columbia, which may end up a story itself.
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| WHB's Curtis Kitchen |
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