In an ESPN.com piece, BYU's formerly suspended center Brandon Davies spoke about being back with the team for the 2011-12 season.
As many people likely remember Davies was suspended late last season for violating his school's honor code by having premarital sex with his girlfriend. His suspension came at a tough time for BYU, who had reached its highest ranking of the season at no. 3 in the country, and was heading into the postseason with a lot of momentum. The Cougars still made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament (I don't think they had much more in them even with Davies, but last year's tourney was one of the weirdest ever, so who knows?), but it had to be hurting Davies to know that the team was worse off without him in its most important games (Davies was the leading rebounder and averaged 11 points a game).
All of that has passed now, however. Davies, now entering his junior year, is happy to be back on the team, and is ready to play some ball. He evidently holds no ire toward anyone for his suspension, saying that BYU treated him "more than fair." Wow. I wrote about Davies' suspension back when it happened, and despite not really being able to understand a suspension for something as innocent as premarital sex with a girlfriend, I respected it, because it was a part of the university's honor code. BYU was sticking to its guns, unlike so many other schools in today's win-and-make-money-at-all-costs NCAA atmosphere. Still, it would have been understandable if Davies was just a bit upset about the way he had been punished.
That just doesn't appear to be the case. Sure, Davies' quotes in the ESPN.com article are probably a case of him saying what sounds best, at least to an extent. But the fact is he took his punishment like a man, and is moving on from it. He is ready to get back onto the court and play some basketball. Not many 19 or 20-year-olds would react like that. Larry Drew III of North Carolina wasn't even suspended last year, he just lost some playing time because Kendall Marshall was doing so well. Drew decided he was going to quit on his teammates.
Not Davies, though. He's ready to help the Cougars pick up right where they left off.
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