According to BYU spokesperson Carri Jenkins, center Brandon Davies has withdrawn from school after completing final exams for winter semester. Now before everybody starts to freak out, keep in mind that withdrawing from school is just a step in the process that Davies must follow to be eligible to return to school in the future. BYU's Honor Code has strict guidelines that Davies must follow in order to come back.
"Our hope is that these conditions will be met by fall semester, 2011," said BYU spokesperson Carri Jenkins. "If so, he will be able to return to school. Our hope is that he will be able to suit up for the 2011-12 season. Again, that's if he has met the conditions to return to the university."
More after the jump:
For those that were living under a rock for the past few months and somehow missed the story about Davies suspension, Davies was suspended from the BYU basketball team after BYU defeated San Diego State in San Diego two games before the end of the Mountain West Conference regular season for admitting to having premarital sex with his girlfriend. Devastated from the loss of their third leading scorer and top rebounder, BYU promptly lost their next game to New Mexico and with it their shot at a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. BYU rebounded in the next game beating Wyoming and entering the MWC tournament as the 1-seed where they eventually lost in the championship game to San Diego State. BYU ended up a 3-seed in the NCAA's and were able to defeat Wofford and then Gonzaga before eventually falling in OT to Florida in the Sweet 16. Nobody expected BYU to advance even that far without Davies and one can only wonder how far could they have gone if he was able to play?
The most important thing, in my humble opinion, that happened during this turbulent time is that the school, the coaches, the players and BYU fans all showed their full support for Brandon and he was allowed to continue to travel with the team and sit on the bench in church clothes for all the games. He was even allowed to take his turn cutting down the net in the Marriott Center in the final home game of the year. I was there and it was touching to see how the crowd supported him as they chanted "We love Brandon, we love Brandon!" as he climbed up the ladder to take a snip. All this showed that the school was behind him and left no doubt in my mind that he would be allowed to return to school after following the necessary steps.
"It's been very hard emotionally but thanks to the love and support of many, I'll be able to get through it. There's a plan in place, and I intend to follow through and return to BYU in the fall," Davies said. "I'm looking forward to coming back to school to continue my education and getting back on the court."
I sincerely hope he makes it back for fall semester which would make him eligible to play all season, not only for the sake of BYU basketball, but for himself. You can tell that Brandon loves BYU and its fans or he could have easily gone elsewhere. Good luck, big guy! See you on court in a few short months!