For the segment of Illinois basketball fans that believe losing out on Jeremiah Tilmon is a blessing in disguise, Monday brought news that they’ll eat up like a starving person sitting in front of a big steak.
The former Illini signee, who then later defected to Mizzou after both programs made coaching changes, was arrested this past weekend by Missouri University Police.
Here’s a tweet from Daniel Jones, who covers Mizzou basketball for the local newspaper in Columbia, Missouri.
Per an MUPD arrest report, Jeremiah Tilmon was arrested at 1:42 a.m. Friday for a minor in possession after a routine traffic stop.
— Daniel Jones (@daniel_m_jones) June 19, 2017
You might be asking “possession of what exactly?”
Per the Columbia Daily Tribune report, Jeremiah Tilmon was allegedly driving erratically enough to be stopped by local police and then cited “for purchase or possession of intoxicants by a minor.”
The CDT writes that:
The officer detected the smell of intoxicants in the vehicle and put Tilmon through a sobriety test.
It was determined Tilmon was above the “zero tolerance” threshold and he was processed at MUPD before being released on summons.
Mizzou hoops has sent out an official statement, and it reads:
“The Mizzou Men’s Basketball program and head coach Cuonzo Martin are aware of the incident, and the matter will be handled internally.”
Today’s news continues a pattern of off-the-court issues that have plagued Martin’s teams. It also gives more a little credence to the subset of Illini fans who espouse the Jeremiah Tilmon is Cliff Alexander 2.0 narrative. While that idea certainly has its own limitations and flaws, as Alexander has no record of legal trouble, only NCAA issues, you can certainly understand where these fans are coming from.
Tilmon, like Alexander, was a highly rated big man who was recruited by many top programs, who vacillated on the Illini before snubbing them. Both did so in a manner that was obviously extremely geared towards attracting a high amount of attention.
Alexander’s college career was a total bust at Kansas, but he has gone on to see a bit of playing time in the NBA. He was waived by the Brooklyn Nets on April 2nd. For Tilmon, his collegiate story is yet to be written, but today’s news could end up being a tremendous setback.
It’s too early to tell, and it all depends on how both the legal and the Mizzou hoops internal disciplinary processes play out regarding those intoxicants.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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