Tuesday, March 8, 2011

UPDATED (with Romar's quotes): Venoy Overton suspended for providing alcohol to a minor

The worst kept secret in the world is no longer a secret.

Venoy Overton, a senior and starting point guard on the Washington basketball team, has been suspended for the Pac-10 tournament because he is facing a charge that he provided alcohol to a minor.

The charge stems from an incident two months ago where a sixteen year old girl accused a player on the Washington basketball team of sexual assault.

He will be available for the NCAA Tournament, should Washington make it. The Huskies aren't safe, either. If Washington loses to Washington State in the first round of the Pac-10 Tournament -- which would mean they lost three games to Wazzu -- and a couple of bubble teams get hot in the conference tournaments, the Huskies could very well get left out of the dance.

Romar's quotes after the jump:

"I just was made aware of the charge against Venoy Overton and, as a result of that charge, Venoy will not be participating in the Pac-10 tournament. It’s something that, I’ve said all along, we take very seriously. There have been some internal dealings with Venoy that I won’t go into, because it’s family stuff, but, I did not want to outwardly discipline twice. I wanted to wait for this process to take its course. It was my intention all along that if something were to happen, further action would be taken from the action that’s already been taken internally."

"Sometimes there’s an outcry by the public that ‘Something needs to be done’. As far as I’m concerned, behavior needs to change and we have to learn from our mistakes. Mistakes are going to be made but every situation is different. I don’t think you handle every situation the same way sometimes. It’s important from here on out that we learn from this and go from here."

"Venoy was starting to play his best basketball. He was not in the shape to do the things we’ve all grown accustomed to watching him do on the floor. Scott Suggs was playing good basketball when he was injured, C.J. (Wilcox) was injured and this has happened with Venoy (Overton). It always takes away from your team."

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