I thought it would be better to separate this into its own post. Earlier today, we learned that UTEP dismissed Myron Strong from the basketball squad. Here are my thoughts on loss of Strong who emerged last season as a viable scoring threat in clutch situations with some stellar performances against Rice and UAB among others. Now, it appears Strong has taken to social media to criticize UTEP's Tim Floyd. Not sure how I feel about this- more on that as the dust settles....
All the Updates After the Jump...
1:55 MST UPDATE: Dan Wolken, of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, on his Twitter Page is reporting that Myron Strong has been lashing out at UTEP's Tim Floyd via his Facebook page. According to Wolken, Strong said:
On his Facebook page, Strong calls Floyd "a lil boy" accuses him of NCAA impropriety, asks "how did Tim Floyd get the job at UTEP"
Wolken also Tweets that Strong will attend VIctory U in Memphis, an NAIA school, while simultaneously discussing how Strong is "blasting" Tim Floyd on Facebook.
2:23 MST UPDATE: Here is the full text of Myron Strong's Facebook Post. He accuses Coach Tim Floyd of some NCAA improprieties here- clearly. Strong is clearly venting and frustrated. This quote is going to bounce around the internet for a long, long time.
"Yeah I'm not at utep anymore I know a lot of ppl wondering y, but the big question really should be how did tim floyd even get the job there? Wasn't he just under investigation at USC? Well I'm hearing that he had a fake charity event to pay former player OJ Mayo $100,000 to play for him. How did the ncaa let that slide? I'm just saying...."
In response to a comment, Strong also posted:
Hell yeah. Floyd a lil boy in me eyes! He came in stereotyping me from day 1. I been knew some was gone eventually happen. Glad it happened now then later tho
Again, I'm not sure how I feel about these comments because they could be out of context- it's just a Facebook status after all- But I feel I have a duty to keep you all informed with that's going on as at happens. Real Time Updates. And, again, as the dust settles, we'll take a look back and reflect on this whole, messed up situation.
This is getting out of hand. Really, this is just about the worst possible way for any of this to go down. And, with Tim Floyd a household name in college basketball, this story isn't going anywhere soon.
3:08 pm MST Update: This just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Dan Wolken, again of the Memphis Commercial Appeal has spoken with UTEP's Tim Floyd who explained why he chose to dismiss Strong. Here's the quote:
Spoke with Floyd, who went right back at Strong, said he was dismissed due to drug policy violation, noted his fourth school in 4 years.
3:35 PM MST: Dan Wolken has published his full story relating to his interview of UTEP's Tim Floyd.
In a phone interview Thursday afternoon, Floyd said he dismissed Strong due to a violation of the school’s drug policy. He said he was “not surprised” to hear about the Facebook comments, pointing out that “this is (Strong’s) fourth school in four years.”
“Some things don’t even deserve comment,” Floyd said. “I’ve been in this business 33 years without one NCAA violation. This university will stand by the reasons he was dismissed.”
6:00 PM MST: Myron spoke with KVIA.com.
"Basically when barbee was there I had a dorm incident and couldn't live in the dorms this school year which was fine because I wasn't planning on staying in the dorms anyways. So when tim floyd came to utep he tested our team and some ppl failed but for some reason he made it seem like it was all my fault and that I was a bad person," Strong said in the email. "He stereotyped me from day 1. Then a few weeks bck I was in the dorm(just there before class) and the police arrested a gurl in the dorm with weed that I knew. My name came up and she told them I had nothing to do with it which was true. Tim floyd had said even if my name came up in anything that I was out of there so I made sure that they knew I had nun to do wit it. But still he told me I violated by even being in the dorms and I didn't know I couldn't even be in the dorms. Tim floyd had already said that he had a guard he wanted to bring in so that had to be his reason to let me go. Really I don't see how he even got the job when he broke ncaa rules at usc just two years back. He raised a fake charity event to pay a player to come to usc is what I'm hearing from my sources abd I'm sure its true."
More on this, obviously, as it develops.