Darius Paul, little brother of former Illini great Brandon Paul, has been suspended from the Illini basketball program and sent home from the the team’s European tour. Given that he was already suspended once, for the entire 2014-15 season, it’s hard to envision him coming back again.
The story of Darius Paul is still being told, but you can obviously see where this is going- the same exact route as Aaron Cosby. Once we heard Illini Coach John Groce publicly reveal that Cosby’s future with the program was in doubt, we all knew that the Seton Hall transfer wasn’t coming back.
Paul was arrested on April 21st, 2014 on the charges of resisting a police officer and underage drinking; that’s what led to his suspension for all of last season. This time, he was sent home from France, where the club is currently on exhibition tour. The Illini suffered a hugely embarrassing loss to the Dutch National Team 81-54 earlier this week. As of now, Paul will hypothetically rejoin the team when they return to Champaign. No one knows when that will be, as his suspension was deemed “indefinite.”
The statement on Darius Paul, published by the Illinois Sports Information Department on behalf of Illini hoops Coach John Groce, did not give any reason for Paul’s suspension. It was just a bunch of abstract corporatespeak. All coaches behave in a stealth manner regarding matters such as these, but Groce has definitely taken the secrecy up a notch.
His regime has been much more defensive and obfuscating about releasing information than his predecessor Bruce Weber.
None of that matters now though, as the truth came out shortly after the release:
According to Deauville police superintendent Madam Pons, Paul was 'very, very drunk' and was taken into custody after he resisted arrest
— Bret Beherns (@WCIA3Bret) August 15, 2015
Paul, the MAC freshman of the year, sat out 2013-14 per the NCAA’s arcane and outdated transfer rules. Last year, he entered a substance abuse treatment program and the conventional wisdom was that he was turning his life around. Yeah, so much for that. He did have a dominant season with small school Lamar State College-Port Arthur in Texas, but that’s all by the wayside now.
He was expected to play a major role this season, filling the holes that Illinois has in the front line. Now that duty falls to sophomore Leron Black. Groce doesn’t have much depth at the four (the options at the five aren’t all that desirable either), but he has a ton of players suited for the two and the three.
So it will be interesting to see what kind of line-up he’ll play this winter.
I would be absolutely shocked if Darius Paul ever plays a game for Illinois. The program has invested three seasons worth of scholarships in him, and he has yet to play a regular season minute for the orange and blue. Calling him a “bust” would be a massive understatement.
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