J. Patrick CoolicanPaul Richardson, Shaquille Richardson and Josh Shirley were arrested last week for allegedly stealing a student's purse near a UCLA dining hall.
They're all tossed from the summer classes they were taking and kicked off the team. The status of the student-athletes for winter quarter is up in the air, according to coach Rick Neuheisel. Doubling our pride, all three are from southern California.
After the jump, Neuheisel's rich history of troubled athletes and his coddling of them.
The Seattle Times conducted a thorough investigation of one of Neuheisel's best teams, the 2000 University of Washington team that won the Rose Bowl and lost just once.
Here's the introduction to the four-part series: An unprecedented look behind the scenes — based largely on documents unavailable at the time — reveals a disturbing level of criminal conduct and hooliganism by the players on that team. Former coach Rick Neuheisel … accepted most of it, demanding little discipline or accountability from their athletes.
Neuheisel's history includes recruiting violations, as well. Another favorite Neuheisel story: He was fired from the University of Washington after he got into a substantial NCAA basketball tournament betting pool and then lied about it to NCAA investigators. In fairness, we should note he won a substantial wrongful termination settlement after that.
Perhaps his swift action in this recent UCLA case indicates he learned his lesson about institutional control of program and players. Here's hoping.
City News Service contributed reporting.
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