Tell Me Sweet Little Lies

Coaching an alleged criminal is really unsettling. I wanted to believe Doedoe was innocent, but my gut told me that the cops identified the right guy. Not only did he roll with a crew of shady characters, he also wasn't a bright guy. The combination of those two factors can be very dangerous. A guy who isn't thinking can be lead to do a lot of stupid things by people with ill intentions.

On top of that, I didn't find him to be an honest guy. Before he enrolled here, I'd heard rumors that he was planning to go elsewhere. Doedoe told me this was false when I asked him about it straight up. I decided not to be hard on him about that because a young man his age could have easily concluded that I would black-ball him for looking at other options. Also, rumors by nature tend to be exaggerated. I gave him a pass on this one.

One of his friends who I know well had asked me if Doedoe was really averaging 37 points per game. He said that Doedoe told him he scored 37 points in his scrimmage game before the season started (he had 18). Doedoe denied ever saying this to his friend when I asked him about it. I gave him a pass on this one figuring that his friend just added 19 points to his total for good measure.

After his third game, Doedoe and I had a meeting in my office that offered a great deal of insight about his character.

Doedoe: (convulsing) I don't understand! Why am I not playing a lot!?!
Me: You missed the first five games of the season and came to practice sparingly so you don't know the plays.
Doedoe: (crying now) I know the plays! I wanna win! You got bums coming in ahead of me!! LEMME PLAY!
Me: You don't know the plays. There isn't anything to talk about.
Doedoe: (crying and convulsing) YES, I DO!!!
Me: If I gave you a blank sheet of paper could you draw up our offense and explain the options??
Doedoe: Yup!
Me: K. If you don't know the play, I'm going to dismiss you from the team. (Getting up to get a sheet of paper).
Doedoe: HOLD UP! HOLD UP! I KNOW THE PLAYS. I just can't draw em up!!

Doedoe quit the team a few days after the last game of the semester where he started and posted 6 first half turnovers. He cited a need to work more hours in order to pay for his Lawyer fees. I privately asked a couple of his teammates after he quit if they felt like Doedoe committed the robbery. Both of them didn't hesitate to say yes.