Bennett Williams no longer with the Illini

#3      

MA Illini

M
Mass
MA Illini
ugh. Hope he gets his act together. Our 2 most recent freshman All Americans have been so promising, one derailed by injuries (Dudek) and the other, well, for behavior
 
#4      

ritster

R
Wheaton, IL
ritster
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#7      

220Illini

2
220Illini
We have team rules in place. If our head coach makes exceptions to those rules for star players, it undermines everything he stands for. It sucks, but you can’t give these kids unlimited chances
 
#8      

FT35

FT35
Naperville
FT35
This is a major loss. It wasn't a good sign that he failed to make the trip to New Jersey because of a "hamstring" issue but I didn't think he'd be gone this quickly. I truly hope that Dorsey isn't next.
 
#10      

FT35

FT35
Naperville
FT35
Chief86 said:
I'm so tired of hearing "team rules". What are these kids doing?
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Well, they're clearly unable to do what a hundred other kids on the team are able to do. They aren't randomly suspending kids, I can tell you that.

If this is the third time he's broken the same rule this year then you just have to move on. There's not a separate set of rules for starters and another set of rules for depth players and walk-ons.

These kids have let us, the coaching staff and their teammates down. He will get another chance somewhere else and I hope he learns from this.
 
#13      

FT35

FT35
Naperville
FT35
LHIllinis said:
There are laws in place to protect players. The days of coaches telling us what is going on with these players is long gone.
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Exactly. Things like this are kept in house for a reason and it's meant to protect the player, not the coaching staff.
 
#16      

dbeaverfg

dbeaverfg
dbeaverfg
LHIllinis said:
There are laws in place to protect players. The days of coaches telling us what is going on with these players is long gone.
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Posted this before but violations of school rules (assuming violations of team rules fall under this) fall under FERPA and can't be disclosed.
 
#17      

ktal

ktal
ktal
ritster said:
I hope it will be a hard lesson learned and he can get his act together
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Yeah, it would be a shame if he burned his potential (even further) from immaturity. Call Clarett if he wants to hear about missed opportunity.

FiveStar said:
Cause nobody here is on the team
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Exactly. That's the audience who needs to learn from this example. Shaming a kid isn't required or appropriate.
 
#18      

ivwilsoniv

I
Aurora, IL
ivwilsoniv
Sounds like he just didn’t follow the rules. Made a choice. Thankfully we have a lot of DBs. Hopefully the rest of the team gets on board with Lovie’s culture and starts turning the ship around - accountability is important. If other kids saw him breaking the rules repeatedly and then he was ultimately let off the hook, what lesson would that teach the other players about Lovie and his rules?
 
#19      

618MattD

618MattD
618MattD
Chief86 said:
But what's the rule?!?!?! Why is this confidential?
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As a former college athlete, the public does not need to know what rule was broken. Had teammates get removed from the team. The team knows and any future school will know after contacting the staff. Public doesn't need to know and will only tarnish the kid, because these players are still kids. Everyone makes mistakes and non-athlete students don't have their dirty laundry aired to the public. Same goes for athletes.

Plus, team rules are gone over very clearly each year at the start of the season/school year. He knew the rules and if it truly is the 3rd time breaking team rules, the staff gave himself chances to prove he made a change.
 
#20      

TDCumm16

TDCumm16
TDCumm16
You’re either with us or against us.... with this many chances time to cut the leash. We’ve had a great season so far without him and we’ll continue forward fine. Not even a blip on radar.

From the kids perspective... at some point we aren’t doing him any life favors by not cutting him. Sometimes the best lessons are the toughest. I hope he goes on to success and it may be very well driven by learning this lesson - staying at ILL continuing to skirt rules may be ultimately holding him back
 
#22      

Illinisteve25

Illinisteve25
Champaign
Illinisteve25
It obviously sucks but we have played all but one half without him doesn't really impact my opinion of the team this year. Lets roll with the guys doing their job and following the rules! #Go ILLINI
 
#24      

SixthandWhite

SixthandWhite
SixthandWhite
This sucks, he was a heck of a young player. But as many posters said above, can't have two sets of rules. Hopefully Bennett can get it figured out.
 
#25      

BZuppke

BZuppke
Plainfield
BZuppke
You have to trust the coaching staff. Too bad for all involved. I hope he finds his way. He could regret losing this opportunity the rest of his life 😞