John Wall Charged with Breaking and Entering

[SkinnerBox]

Uber-recruit John Wall charged with breaking and entering
By Eamonn Brennan

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Uber-recruit-John-Wall-charged-with-breaking-and?urn=ncaab,160959


The breaking news of the morning comes from WRAL in Raleigh, N.C. That news? Uber-recruit John Wall, the still-undecided No. 1 player in the class of 2009, was cited with breaking and entering by the Raleigh police this morning:
Authorities said Wall, 18, was charged with misdemeanor breaking and entering in connection with an April 27 break-in at a home at 3924 Laurel Glen Drive in Raleigh. An officer saw Wall leaving from the rear of the residence and was able to detain him, police said. Police said there was no forced entry at the residence and no indication that anything was taken from it.
There will likely be much more to come here, but a few quick, unsubstantiated and probably wild theories:
1. This could push John Wall to the draft. For a while, Wall toyed with the idea of using his special fifth-year high school status to enter the NBA draft as a 19-year-old, and technically he could do so. Later, Wall said he would attend school. Now, though, any college that recruits him has to deal with a breaking and entering charge. How do you punish Wall? Would he even want to deal with it? The character-related issues could hurt his draft stock, but it's hard to imagine his kind of world-changing talent slipping too far. Maybe the draft just seems easier now?
2. Recruiting strategy just got a lot trickier. Say you're Coach K. You're going hard after Wall. Now, not only do you have to justify to your fans and to your administration why you spent so much time recruiting such a non-committal player, you have to explain why the risk of taking someone with a breaking and entering citation on their record is worth it. John Calipari, same deal. Kentucky doesn't have the same sterling reputation as Duke, but do you really want your first major recruiting coup to come a week after that recruit was charged with something as potentially serious as this? And if you're Wall, don't you suddenly have an interest in making sure that wherever you end up is going to be lenient with you? Do you start including this in your demands? Coaches already had a tough situation recruiting Wall; the rules just keep getting trickier.
Anyway, just a couple of thoughts. Two others were charged with Wall; maybe he'll be exonerated and maybe the whole thing never happened. In any case, the John Wall recruitment insanity meter just shot up about fifteen notches, and it's holding strong for now.

 

[kennadog]

Kind of odd that there was no forced entry and no evidence anything was taken.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Kind of odd that there was no forced entry and no evidence anything was taken.

There are comments at the linked site claiming that the house in question was a vacant foreclosure and he may have been sneaking off with a girl.

Of course, the idea that this could push Wall toward the draft is poorly researched -- whether or not a challenge by Wall would have a chance, the early entry deadline has passed.

 

[FakeInjury]

It doesn't sound like he is actually facing charges...he was proabably cited as a material witness to a B and E, to force him to come to the station for deposition of events. I doubt they have a warrant for his fingerprints, and they want to see if he would be willing to offer his prints(stupidly). I don't think he was B and E; i think he was B and E and OPP.

 

[kingsnation]

Whether this report is valid or not, this is not the type of headline any NBA team, fan or college recruiter wants out of their prospect.

 

[Bricklayer]

There are comments at the linked site claiming that the house in question was a vacant foreclosure and he may have been sneaking off with a girl.

That would make more sense -- it would be decidedly odd for somebody in Wall's position (be a millionaire within a year) to be involved in petty theft this close to the promised land.

 

[Oprostaj]

That would make more sense -- it would be decidedly odd for somebody in Wall's position (be a millionaire within a year) to be involved in petty theft this close to the promised land.

Athletes have done much, much dumber things. However, early common sense and lack of any substantial evidence probably push this to the sneaking off with a girl theory. Maybe they were playing haunted house?

 

[kennadog]

That would make more sense -- it would be decidedly odd for somebody in Wall's position (be a millionaire within a year) to be involved in petty theft this close to the promised land.

Still a stupid move. Can't find anywhere to go except to break into a vacant house? Shows no imagination.