In the wake of the unexpected departures of James Akinjo and Josh LeBlanc from the Georgetown basketball program, media and fans have pieced together bits of information in the hopes of attempting to understand the situation.
Although we’ve put together an article that details what we know so far, there’s still a lot that we don’t know. Numerous questions arise out of this, given that the program has put forth the most vague and mealy-mouthed statement possible on this, and Coach Ewing or Athletics Director Lee Reed have yet to address this.
We’ve compiled a list of questions that we believe need to be fleshed out. While it’s unlikely that the answers to these will all come out, due to privacy concerns, legal concerns, or a general unwillingness on the part of the program to say more than they have to, we do hope more information will come out to help put to bed the rampant and unhealthy speculation that’s been going on for the past day.
First, the basic questions. What was the reason behind the departures of LeBlanc and Akinjo? Secondly, were Ewing, the program, and Georgetown Athletics aware of the civil cases against LeBlanc, Alexander, and Gardner?
The answer to this second question in turn unlocks even more questions. If the answer is “yes”, when did they know, and why are Gardner and Alexander still on the team? Why were they not at least suspended as LeBlanc was? Why was LeBlanc only suspended for a single game? If the answer is “no”, then what was the reason for LeBlanc’s departure? Also, if the answer was “no”, how did you not know about this, given that this was reported to campus police? Additionally, this brings up the question of what level of protection and support the university has given to the victims listed in the complaints. The complaint stated, “These three individuals [LeBlanc, Alexander, and Gardner] have been harassing and threatening my home and personal harm of bodily injury since reporting.” That seems fairly serious.
The cases involving LeBlanc brings up so many questions. Firstly, was LeBlanc’s suspension for the season opener related to this? If the university knew (which they likely did, given that it was reported to the campus police), when (if it did) it make its way to the basketball program? Continuing along the line of “the university and program knew,” why was LeBlanc playing? The incidents happened in September, yet the news only came out in December. In fact, the court cases were in early November, meaning that there was nearly a whole month where LeBlanc, Alexander, and Gardner were playing and saw minutes in games. Did these three see playing time even when the program knew (in this scenario) about the allegations? The timing of when the program knew about these allegations is really important, because it will shed light on the values that the team and University espouses.
If Patrick Ewing and the basketball program did not know about the cases until media uncovered it last night, that raises an entirely different set of questions. If the campus police knew (which they did, based off of the fact that it was reported), why did that not make its way to McDonough gymnasium? How did the coaches and program not know about this? If this scenario is indeed the case, it also means that LeBlanc’s departure is for another, different reason.
Regarding Akinjo, were the departures of him and LeBlanc related (in the event that LeBlanc’s departure was not because of the allegations made against him in the court complaints)? Also, why is Akinjo transferring seven games into the season? In the wake of reporting that Akinjo’s intent to transfer was a personal decision made by him, what happened that caused him to transfer? It seems like a sudden decision, and the speculation hasn’t helped.
Why was the news of the transfers of James and Josh packaged together in the same press release? For a school that has always struggled with communication, the simplicity must’ve seemed appealing, but it came with enormous consequences. If the transfers are, in fact, not related, and LeBlanc is transferring due to his impending legal issues, the manner Georgetown handled this was tremendously unfair to Akinjo and his family. Lumping the news of the two transfers together has led to immense speculation that these are related events. As the days progress, it seems more and more likely that that was not the case.
This list of questions shows that even as more information has come out about the program and some of the players, that information has raised even more questions. In the end, the biggest question is “Who knew what, and when?”
This isn’t to argue that fans are entitled to know all of the details of these cases. Rather, this is a fundamental question regarding Georgetown as an institution that so many of us love and spent countless hours cheering on through the basketball team. As the oldest Jesuit institution in the country, Georgetown works to impart the values of cura personalis, men and women for others, and caring for the common good. These questions mean that we don’t know if Georgetown has handled this matter in a way that’s antithetical to the values that we’ve learned to take to heart as students. If Georgetown has failed to uphold its values, it suddenly brings into doubt a lot of what we’ve been taught to care about as a community and what is expected of us moving forward. We need answers, because this is a crisis for the institution of Georgetown itself and the values we’ve been taught as students.
It’s bigger than basketball.
UPDATE:
On Tuesday afternoon, Georgetown Athletic Director Lee Reed issued the statement below to season ticket holders:
Dear Hoya Basketball Supporter,
Many of you have been following recent news regarding our Men’s Basketball Team. Yesterday, we announced that two students, James Akinjo and Josh LeBlanc, will not be members of the team for the remainder of the season as they have expressed an interest in transferring from the University. Separately, allegations were reported publicly against three members of the team. The allegations do not involve James Akinjo.
While Georgetown refrains from commenting on individual students in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), we take student conduct issues very seriously. Alleged conduct violations are investigated and adjudicated by the Office of Student Conduct through a fair and equitable process. Both the complainant and the accused student are given the opportunity to provide written and oral statements along with any relevant evidence before disciplinary actions are taken. Student-athletes are subject to the same disciplinary policies and procedures contained in the Code of Conduct that apply to any undergraduate or graduate student.
Once the student conduct process is completed, and if sanctions are imposed by the Office of Student Conduct, coaches may impose additional disciplinary actions, including removal from the team. When students report concerns for their safety, the University takes immediate action and offers a range of options and supportive resources for students, which may include putting in place no contact orders between members of the campus community, filing a complaint with the University or the Georgetown University Police Department (GUPD), safety planning with GUPD, police escorts for students, counseling and other support services – all to ensure complainants are safe on campus. If the University determines that a student poses an immediate threat to the safety or security of students or of the community, the University would take immediate action to remove the student from campus.
Please know that we are deeply committed to the integrity of our athletics program. All student athletes are required to complete a four-tiered education model on interpersonal violence and sexual assault. Coach Ewing has taken additional steps to ensure a culture of responsibility and integrity within our Men’s Basketball Team.
We seek to develop the talents, character and leadership qualities of all student-athletes and members of our community. We aspire for our student-athletes to exemplify the excellence and integrity of the Georgetown community and will continue to work to achieve this mission.
Sincerely,
Lee Reed
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
First off, the statement clears up any confusion in stating that the allegations against members of the basketball team do not involve James Akinjo. It also indicates that Akinjo and LeBlanc’s departures were due to their own decisions to transfer, and that they were not forced off the team. However, it remains unclear whether LeBlanc’s legal troubles played a role in his decision to leave. The statement also raises even more questions regarding Akinjo’s decision to leave mid-season.
At this point, it seems like this is the most detailed explanation that Georgetown will offer, perhaps due to issues of privacy. Even if the departures of Akinjo and LeBlanc were not directly tied to the legal proceedings, Georgetown will still need to deal with the repercussions of the allegations, especially given the fact that Alexander and Gardner remain on the team.
Though it is unclear if either Alexander or Gardner will play for Georgetown on Wednesday, the statement certainly leaves open the possibility. The University’s statement says that coaches may impose disciplinary actions following the conclusion of any pending student conduct investigation. If that is the case, why was LeBlanc suspended for the first game of the season? Was that suspension completely unrelated to the recently-uncovered allegations? Regardless, the wording of the release seems to indicate that Alexander and Gardner will likely continue to play for the time being.
