JayVaughn Pinkston's trial to begin next month

JayVaughn Pinkston's legal ordeal is almost over.

The 6'7", 245 lb freshman at Villanova University was charged with assault back in November after an incident at an off campus house party. On May 25th, Pinkston's trial for one count of simple assault and two counts of summary harassment is scheduled to begin. The folks over at VUHoops.com have the deets:

The trial will be to on one count of simple assault and two counts of summary harassment. One charge of simple assault was dropped after a preliminary hearing in January when the alleged victims stories didn’t quite match up.

The victim in the remaining assault case reportedly suffered a concussion during the altercation. Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Reifsnyder will have to prove to a jury that Pinkston attempted to cause or intentionally, knowingly or recklessly caused bodily injury to another person, authorities alleged.
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If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of two years in jail, however, it would be uncommon for a defendant without a criminal record to receive a maximum sentence.

According to Pennsylvania sentencing guidelines, an offender without a prior criminal record on simple assault charges would likely qualify for the "Restorative Sanctions" program — which focuses on "restoring the victim to pre-offense status," and allows the convicted to avoid imprisonment. That option would involve a number of fees assessed by the court as well as an assigned period of unpaid community service assignments. The judge could also choose to have Pinkston confined in lieu of community service for up to a month as a first-time offender (or up to 6 months if it is a second-offense).

It will be interesting to see what comes out of this for Pinkston.

He was a college kid that got into a fight when he was drunk. We've all done it. Its not something to be proud of, but when Jungle Juice, Natty Light, and a mixture of testosterone and adrenaline are flowing through a 19 year old's veins, sometimes a fist may fly. But not all of us are as big or as strong as Pinkston. When he throws a punch, its going to do some damage, especially if a average sized, drunk, Villanova frat boy is on the receiving end.

Athletes have to know that for as much adulation as they get around campus, there are going to be folks out there that are jealous or envious of their ability.

The good news is that this kid didn't suffer any permanent damage.

And hopefully Pinkston has learned that he can't go around punching people if he wants to remain a student at Villanova.
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JayVaughn Pinkston suspended for the season

The ruling has come down in the JayVaughn Pinkston case, and it is not good for the freshman.

Pinkston has been suspended from Villanova for the spring semester, meaning that he will not be allowed to play this season. To be clear, this suspension is being issued by the school, not the basketball team or the NCAA. Since Pinkston has not played in a game this season, he will be allowed to take a redshirt.

Pinkston will have to reapply to the school next summer to attain student in good standing status, which he needs to be a member of the basketball team.

Before I get into my reaction, here is the statement issued by Jay Wright:

I am in support of the University’s decision. JayVaughn understands that there are consequences to his actions, and I believe he will continue to handle this in a mature manner. We look forward to his return in June.

And JayVaughn Pinkston:

I am sorry. This situation is my responsibility and I have learned from it. I am going to work extremely hard so that I can return to the Villanova family in June.

If you don't remember, JayVaughn Pinkston was involved in an altercation, the rumor being that he got in a fight with a couple of Villanova students, which resulted in one of the students being taken to the hospital.

Obviously, this is a tough time for Pinkston, but its refreshing to see a school make a player pay a serious punishment for a serious offense. During the offseason, there were a number of assaults allegedly committed by college hoopers. Tre'Von Willis, LaceDarius Dunn, and Tony Woods were all involved in domestic disturbances that resulted in injuries, some of them serious, to women.

Woods was dismissed from Wake Forest, but Dunn and Willis missed a grand total of five games.

Pinkston will miss an entire season.

I may be in the minority here, but I feel for Pinkston. I really do. I'm sure I'm not the only one that got into a fight in college. It happens, especially when alcohol is involved and the pride of an 18 year old kid is on the line. I'm not excusing what he did, but we would all be hypocritical if we didn't admit to knowing where he came from.

That said, Pinkston has a responsibility here. He's getting his education paid for by Villanova to play basketball. He's also a 6'6", 250 lb man child. Simply put, you cannot go around punching fellow students when you are an athlete, especially an athlete that is bigger than just about everyone in the city of Philadelphia.

I've been in his shoes.

I missed my senior season in college because of a mistake I made.

And while it was a miserable experience, I grew from it. Here's to hoping JayVaughn does the same.
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JayVaughn Pinkston and Devoe Joseph to miss game time

Villanova has released their statement on JayVaughn Pinkston, their talented freshman forward who was involved in an altercation at a party last weekend:

On Saturday night, November 6, an incident involving Villanova men’s basketball player JayVaughn Pinkston and several other students occurred at an off-campus location. The University has been informed that the Upper Merion Township Police are charging JayVaughn Pinkston with two counts of simple assault and harassment. Earlier this week, Villanova opened its own internal review to determine whether Code of Student Conduct violations had occurred in this matter. The University is moving forward with this review as quickly and diligently as possible in order to assure fairness to everyone. Until a decision is reached, JayVaughn will not play in games, but will be allowed to participate in other team activities.

So there you have it. Pinkston will be suspended pending the conclusion of the University's investigation. I don't think anyone expected any less. There is also a report that Pinkston has been charged with two counts of simple assault and harassment.

Villanova kicks off the season tonight at 8:00 pm against Bucknell.

Pinkston isn't the only player in trouble heading into the weekend.

The rest of this post can be seen at Beyond the Arc.

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Update of JayVaughn Pinkston

On Monday, we talked a bit about JayVaughn Pinkston, the Villanova freshman forward that is currently facing an investigation involving an incident off-campus that ended up with a student in the hospital. The NY Post has some more details:

A source said Pinkston was locked in the laundry room at the facility by two males. The 6-foot-7, 260-pound 18-year-old broke the door down and allegedly got involved in an altercation with the two at a nearby party, a source told The Post. Another source said Pinkston was involved in a fight at a party and that "it was bad."

From what I have heard and from message board innuendo, the cause of the fight is difficult to put together, but just about everyone agrees that Pinkston roughed a kid up pretty badly.

To his credit, Jay Wright isn't sidestepping this matter:

The rest of this post can be read over at Beyond the Arc.

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Jayvaughn Pinkston being investigated for an 'incident'

Villanova is reviewing an off-campus incident involving freshman and former McDonalds all-american Jayvaughn Pinkston from Saturday night.

From the guys over at VUHoops:

On Saturday night, November 6th, JayVaughn Pinkston was allegedly involved in an altercation in Upper Merion Township that lead to the other party in the hospital. A police report was allegedly filed. Rumors suggest that there may have been another teammate present at the time of the altercation. No media reports have named other members of the team at this time. At VUhoops we have been shown some evidence suggesting that some altercation did occur.

Yuck.

This is not good for Pinkston or Villanova. If this is correct, and Pinkston got into a fight and sent the other person to the hospital, he could very well be facing a suspension, if not expulsion. Particularly if the other person in the fight was a Villanova student.

The school and the cops are still investigating the incident. We will give you more information as it comes available.

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How often do you see this?

Jayvaughn Pinkston is a a top 100 recruit out of Bishop Loughlin in Brooklyn. At 6'6", 240 lb, Pinkston is a forward that can play both inside and outside, drawing comparisons to Jamal Mashburn.

He has a skill set that could make him a match-up nightmare at the collegiate level.

But Pinkston's summer has been much different than that of most other top 100 recruits. You see, there have been some concerns over whether or not Pinkston was going to be able to get NCAA eligible as he missed a chunk of his junior season due to academics. He even toyed with the idea of transferring to Oak Hill Academy.

Jayvaughn Pinkston had a great tournament in the Adidas Super 64.
(photo credit: FiveBoroSports)

Instead, Pinkston decided to skip the All-American camps, instead deciding to attend summer school to help boost his grades before finishing up his senior year at Loughlin.

From Zagsblog:

"Yes, it is," Pinkston said when asked if sitting out was hard. "I was looking forward to coming out and playing against some of the top players in my class."

"I'm trying to become a better student-athlete, so that's why I decided to go to summer school."

Pinkston did play in the Adidas Super 64 in Vegas last week, and really opened some eyes. He scored 19 points (while holding Texas-bound Tristan Thompson to just 9) as his New Heights team upset a loaded Grassroots Canada team. The most interesting part? Pinkston was doing homework before, after, and in between games throughout the week.

It was originally thought that Pinkston was destined for St. John's, but Pinkston's list has grown a bit of late. There are currently eight schools still in play, with four (Tennessee, St. John's, Villanova, and Xavier) having offered scholarships, according to Rivals.

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