More About Sandi: A Quick Word on Maymester at Purdue

Mike Hutton of the "Post-Tribune" has been waging a mini-battle against Purdue in favor of Sandi Marcius, but thus far, he's been doing it exclusively on Twitter. Which is peculiar to me. He keeps reminding people who question him that he's a columnist and thus not required to remain objective, yet he hasn't written a column criticizing Purdue yet. He's simply being worked over on Twitter, some say, by Sandi's "handlers," whoever the hell they are. If you don't know what to believe anymore, you're not a lone.

Hutton, it turns out, might have a bit of a soft spot for Marcius since Sandi graduated from LaLumiere High School in La Porte, IN, which is sort of in Mike's area. I don't know what this has to do with anything, but it seemed relevant.

Hutton claims Purdue should be paying for Maymester for Sandi because his situation is "no different" from John Hart's and Hart had his remaining outstanding classes paid for. Matt Painter and Morgan Burke explained precisely how the Hart situation was different from Sandi's situation, but Hutton simply... doesn't care, I guess. He just keeps repeating that they're the same in much the same way a goldfish bumps into the side of a glass fishtank.

But here's the point I want to address here. What people like this guy Mike Hutton don't seem to grasp is that Maymester is unequivocally NOT part of Spring semester. If Purdue were refusing to pick up the tab for Sandi's spring classes then that would be an obnoxious thing to do. But May classes are the start of a new semester, whether Hutton (and Sandi) likes it or not. In fact, take the month out of the equation -- if Sandi quit and asked for his release but had a couple classes scheduled for this fall that he wanted to take, would it be reasonable to expect his athletic scholarship to cover those costs? Of course not. That would be ridiculous.

And so is this entitled attitude around his expecting classes to be paid for May.

I also think this could serve as an exhibit to the those who worship at the altars of Jay Bilas and Jalen Rose when they preach about college players not being paid right now. Sure seems like Sandi is a disgruntled employee expected severance pay, doesn't it?

It was pointed out to me by a reader that perhaps Maymester could be considered part of the 2012-2013 "academic year." I think that's a fair argument you could make if we're talking about calendar years and whatnot, but Sandi Marcius has been at Purdue for four years of classes, including summers and Maymesters, which he may or may not have participated in. To suggest now that the University or the athletic department owes him even more is utter nonsense.

We're also not talking about him being "screwed out of" many thousands of dollars. We're talking about a guy who made a minimal contribution on the court, received well into the six-figures range of free benefits at Purdue and who is leaving the program before he graduates or completes the obligation he made to Purdue in exchange for four-plus years of a free education -- that is, to play four years of basketball for the Boilermakers.

Hutton also makes an argument that this is the same as John Hart's situation, which Matt Painter explained in detail yesterday, laying out exactly how they are not the same thing. Hutton then also says on Twitter that "Sandi Marcius = Scott Martin." I'm not sure if Hutton is saying they're the same guy or the same situation, but given who is saying it, it could be either.

As we've noted here, we have nothing against Sandi in general. We liked his commitment to the team and his development into a somewhat reliable guy who could give you some minutes and maybe show a glimmer here or there. This behavior has been less than impressive, though. And to have it backed up by an adult (which Hutton presumably is) is even more disappointing.