It's a wild day to be a Seton Hall fan.
The media circus is headed towards the New Jersey-based University, where the controversy continues. It started with Herb Pope twice delivering a between-the-legs cheapshot and getting ejected. It quickly followed with the immediate dismissal of Bobby Gonzalez. Now, the latest torrent of terrible publicity comes after Robert Mitchell was arrested on charges of kidnapping, robbery, burglary, and weapons offenses.
Many of the students who called for Bobby Gonzalez job during the waning minutes of last night's washout loss to Texas Tech received their wish today, when the man they call "Gonzo" was quickly canned.
Robert "Stix" Mitchell has been arrested for allegedly robbing multiple people at gunpoint.
Mitchell, whose minutes dwindled with the nut-cracking Pope's emergence as the Big East's top rebounder, was recently dismissed from the Pirates after he called out Gonzalez's shaky substitution patterns in an interview with the Bergen Record.
Mitchell, a Brooklyn native, was arrested yesterday in Newark.
Mitchell, a junior with a year of eligibility remaining had he not been dismissed by Gonzalez (although the recent firing of Gonzalez may have given Mitchell the chance to be reinstated under whoever is named to fill the vacant head coaching position)was booted three days before Gonzo was fired.
The following is the press release from the Essex County (N.J.) Prosecutor’s Office which details the mass robbery.
"On March 17, 2010 Acting Prosecutor Robert Laurino and South Police Chief James Chelel jointly announced the arrest of Robert Mitchell, 23, of Brooklyn, New York, a Seton University student and member of the basketball team.
Mitchell allegedly entered a residence located on Irvington Avenue in South Orange on Monday, March 15, 2010 forcing occupants to move from various rooms into a common area where they forced to turn over their cash and personal items at gunpoint. There were eight occupants in the residences at the time.
Various items including credit cards, cell phones, debit cards, driver’s licenses, digital cameras and approximately $300 in cash were taken.
Mitchell then fled the scene in a vehicle. The vehicle has been recovered.
Mitchell was arrested on Tuesday March 16 at 2010 at approximately 1:23 p.m. when he was spotted by South Orange officers in the vicinity of South Orange Avenue and Poe Avenue in Newark.
He was charged with kidnapping (first degree); robbery (first degree); burglary (third degree) and weapons offenses (second and third degree). A first degree offense carries 10 to 20 years; second degree 5 to 10 years; and third degree carries 3 to 5 years in prison."
Once again, the incident sheds light on Gonzo's penchant for recruiting players with checkered pasts. In a recent NY Times piece, Kevin Armstrong detailed Gonzo's history of recruiting high-risk platers with dicey pasts.
The point this controversial story illustrated was that Gonzalez has a history of bringing baggage and infecting the clean air of programs.
Mitchell was booted from the team for calling out his coach an interview, a big no-no for Gonzo players. Had he not been dismissed from the team, Stix would have competed in yesterday's NIT game.
It's proof that Gonzo's firing was timely, given the aforementioned issue of his predilection for recruiting players with oft-perceived character flaws.
Only at Seton Hall.
Only at Seton Hall can a player go from being the Pope to the nutcracker. Only at Seton Hall can a player go from being stix to stick-up kid.
The program is now marred by controversy and shock in the aftermath of these recent jaw-dropping events.
Were not saying basketball coaches should recruit at the Boys Choir, but it's obvious Gonzo was taking some risks here. Most Division-I recruits who help old ladies cross the street don't end up at Seton Hall.
Seton Hall is making Binghamton's basketball program look like a legit operation with a history of recruiting first-class gents.