The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Bouknight suspended three games
STORRS — UConn freshman James Bouknight has been suspended for the first three games of the regular season, head coach Dan Hurley announced on Thursday.
Bouknight, a highlytouted guard, was arrested for an oncampus vehicular incident in the wee hours of Sept. 27. He is seeking to enter a court diversionary progran and scheduled to appear at Rockville Superior Court on Nov. 18. If he is able to enter and complete that program, his charges would be dismissed.
“After deliberating on it and understanding all the information relative to the situation, and dealing with James – internally, externally – it just feels like it’s appropriate,” Hurley said following practice on Thursday. “The narrative about his career, I believe, will be about championships and rebuilding his reputation, changing the narrative which currently is associated with the start to his career.”
Bouknight will miss Friday’s seasonopener against Sacred Heart, as well as a Nov. 13 game against St. Joseph’s at Gampel Pavilion and a showdown with No. 6 Florida on Nov. 17, also at Gampel.
If nothing else arises between now and the Huskies’ bout with Buffalo on
Nov. 21 at the Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C., Bouknight would be eligible to play in that game, per Hurley.
“I’ve been around basketball since I was a child,” Hurley said. “I’ve got a network of people, plus my own instincts. I’ve been helping raise kids for a long time. That’s a big part of my job as a coach.”
Among those advice Hurley sought when coming up with his punishment were athletic director David Benedict, as well as Hurley’s father, Bob Sr., Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan, former coaches Fran Fraschilla and Seth Greenberg, and other current coaches. He also considered similar cases involving other college basketball players in recent years.
“It’s been a rough month, and it’s not over for him,” Hurley said of Bouknight. “Sitting there is gonna be very difficult for him (Friday), and these other games. These are the highlyanticipated moments. Everything he’s dealt with – the shame of it, the embarrassment of it – and now, not to be able to start the season with your team. It’s a dream for him to come and play at UConn that has turned nightmarish for him over the last month.”