Stoneburner, Mewhort Lose Scholarships for Summer

By Jason Priestas on June 15, 2012 at 11:41p

Jake Stoneburner and Jack Mewhort will have to pay their own way for summer school.

After the pair entered guilty pleas Friday to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct, Ohio State released the following statement minutes ago from head coach Urban Meyer:


While I'll be shocked if the two don't return to the team prior to the start of fall camp, the suspension from team activities will be a setback for Stoneburner particularly as he won't be able to workout with Braxton Miller.

On the tuition front, this will likely go down as the most expensive outdoor leak in modern history.



Seth4Bucks's picture

I like this. I know that it comes off as a little harsh, but Urban's setting the disciplinary tone early. This shows that he doesn't care about whether you're a starter or not.

Jason Priestas's picture

Absolutely. I agree 100%.

741's picture

Yep. I wonder how they get their workouts in to maintain strength and conditioning? Anyone have insight into this?

RBuck's picture

@741: Read in the Dispatch that they will have access to the WHAC.


Baroclinicity's picture

Spot on.  Hope the rest of the team gets the hint.

When you're holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Irricoir's picture

Agree, but does Dom Clarke?


ShadyBuckeye's picture

U just don't run from the cops. Otherwise this would be a non-issue. U never wanna be the one who sets a precedent and is the first to be made an example of. Its definitely way too harsh but not nessecarilly unwarranted unfortunately.

BuckeyesMJ's picture

@IRRI, I think it's a case by case basis. Clarke was in trouble a couple different times and shooting a BB gun at folks from a rooftop is a lil more serious than wizzin in public. Still a pretty steep penalty for these two. I'm sure their parents aren't too happy about paying for the next quarter. (Although I think the Stoneburners can handle it if they live just off the golf course lol)

Urban aint playin

Irricoir's picture

Muckeyesmj - I meant " What does Dom have to say about the way Urban handled this?" I agree that Clarke's situation was totally elevated above what these other two knuckleheads did. Second or third strikes coupled with gun charges don't equate to taking a tinkle in public.


buckeye76BHop's picture

It's all good...UFM and OSU have to make these punishments more intense in order for the NCAA to back off.  Trust me...they'll find a way to be reinstated by fall camp or during...if the NCAA agrees that this was sufficient.  Saw the grey box and was hoping for recruiting news ;-)



Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987 

Jason Priestas's picture

This has nothing to do with the NCAA.

CowCat's picture

I respectfully disagree. 
Given our recent past, and the misguided accusations against our coach when he was at Florida (never mind his great academic record there!) he has little choice in the matter. He has to set the tone early and send a message to the University, the media and the NCAA.  He was very direct about this in his early interviews, in that you face problems head-on and "blow them up like a torpedo".
Jim Tressel sat on his hands, and that was his downfall.   At this point any public perception of the University treating its football players with kid gloves will blow back at us in an instant.
Maybe it's just my take, but I think Urban will be a bit like Woody in this case:  A hardass who truly cares about his players.

-- Urban Meyer

Jason Priestas's picture

My comment was primarily in reply to the "if the NCAA agrees that this was sufficient" line, but I see your points, particularly about perception.

In theory, Urban could have opted not to punish the two at all and there's not much the NCAA could do about it, however. The NCAA doesn't even punish on-field player transgressions  (think Reynolds-Sorgi) as that's usually left up to the school, while conferences can and do step in with punishment. Now, if they violated their amateur status...

Pam's picture

The NCAA is only concerned with their rules being broken, not actual laws. Tress sat on his hands about NCAA violations and that was his downfall.  He also took a hard line with guys who did get in trouble with the law. Any player charged with a felony during his tenure never played another down. Part of the reason Mo was suspended for a year was his lying to the cops about the value of the stuff stolen from his rental car.  It is UFM who was seen as being soft on his players who had off the field issues.  He is being much more tough on these two than he was with some of his guys at UF who committed far worse crimes. Woody never had a player arrested, but that doesn't mean they never got in trouble. It was well known that the cops would call him and he would pick them up if they were somewhere they shouldn't be and the papers didn't report anything. It was a very different time, no cell phones, no twitter, no email and no texting. I understand the need to shape perception, but I don't like punishment that is meted out to "send a message" rather than fitting the crime.  I wonder if he would have done this with players whose parents could not afford to pay the summer tuition.

CowCat's picture

Absolutely -- I don't think "sending a message" or "making an example" of an 18-22 year-old is appropriate at all.  
If a "zero-tolerance" policy is what has to happen, it should apply to all players during the entire NCAA probation period.
I heard the same story about Woody and his players' troubles :)

-- Urban Meyer

BuckeyesMJ's picture

@IRRI, sorry, misinterpreted what you were getting at. I'm sure Dom Clarke will have some kind of comment.

FROMTHE18's picture

Don't really care for what a player who was kicked out of the program thinks about this situation...Clarke made his bed, time to lay in it

argyle182021's picture

What's to stop Stoney and Braxton from playing catch at a non football team activity in a non football facility (ie, an open space)?  Just two college guys throwing a football around, no?

Jdadams01's picture

This. They will probably be hittin up some parks this summer

schooey's picture

The punishment is over-blown and stupid for the team. 

Jugdish's picture

@Schooey  You have constantly shown your displeasure with the handling of this situation by the police and by Myer. You need to have a more open mind to think things through before posting. Personally, the blame all goes to two football players who made a bad decision. They will have paid for the mistake and be back on the field this fall. Life is full of choices, and we must be able to accept blame as well as credit.

Remember to get your wolverine spayed or neutered. TBDBITL

dbit's picture

Anyone have an idea as to what the "stipulations" are?  The wording they use makes it seem as though once they fulfill these stipulations, they can rejoin the team immediately following.

Brutus's picture

Does anyone know how much not being on scholarship during the summer will actually cost these guys and their families? I guess if they are actually taking classes this summer and/or using the scholarship money to pay for living expenses, it could be significant.  But overall, not having this money for 2.5 months this summer is probably just a drop in the bucket.  I think the punishment sounds much worse than it actually is (though I admittedly have no idea what it translates to in money and time). Meyer gets to come off as a stiff disciplinarian, which is good, Stoney and Mewhort don't get off easy, and no one can claim that OSU is going soft on their star athletes again.  And as Dbit hints, the wording of the punishment makes it sound like they can rejoin the team once the stipulations are fulfilled.  Maybe a bunch of hours of community service or something and all is forgiven?

Baroclinicity's picture

Are they out-of-state?

When you're holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

buckeyedude's picture

I guess the moral of the story is, if you have to pee really bad, and porta-johns aren't readily available and you decide to take a leak outdoors, be discreet about it.