Analysis by Tyler Murphy in SRM 334 (section 1)
Within the past two weeks the University of Louisville released a statement that their basketball player Chris Jones was being released due to his charges with the police department. Jones was charged with rape and sodomy, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Another issue arose when a female student reported Jones had texted her and threatened to “slap the f*** out of her.” The Louisville head basketball coach, Rick Pitino had come out and said that he will no longer be apart of the team and no further comments will be made.
We did our power point on crisis management and what the University could have done to further prevent this crisis. The athletic spokesman for Louisville, Kenny Klein, had no comment on the report and let the media be the first to tell the public. Travis and I both agreed that he should’ve addressed the fans and public before the media to keep the image at Louisville upheld. The university a have had multiple incidences in the past 2 years dealing with suspensions and releases of players on the team.
I commend the University for releasing the player after finding out the true evidence, but something needs to be done to prevent these accidents from occurring because its starting to become a regular occurrence. Background checks before scholarship offers, curfews during the season, and more strict rules to abide by are multiple options for actions that could be taken to limit these problems.
Overall the crime has already been committed and there is nothing else to be done except serve your punishment. The university, along with Chris Jones, but can learn from this incidence and ensure that nothing like this happens again. On the university side, if it does happen again, they need to handle the situation better and address the media before the fans hear from other sources.
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Analysis by Travis Oyler in SRM 334 (section 1)
Over the past two weeks, The University of Louisville Men’s Basketball program has been in the media spotlight over the suspension and dismissal of one of their star players. Chris Jones, a senior at Louisville, was suspended and dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons. Jones was first suspended from the team February 17 for sending threatening text messages to a female. With Jones out of the lineup, Louisville lost their following game to Syracuse by a score of 59-69. Jones was then allowed to rejoin the team under strict disciplinary measures, and in their next game, Jones led Louisville in a comeback to beat Miami. Jones was then dismissed from the team the next day after being charged with two counts of rape. Louisville will now go on this season without their star point guard.
This article is relevant to sports communication because the negative attention that Louisville now faces will have to be battled with good public relations and crisis management. Personally, I believe that Louisville did all of the right things before Jones was finally dismissed from the team. When Jones sent threatening text messages to his girlfriend on February 17th, Coach Rick Pitino did the right thing by immediately suspending Jones for one game. Louisville gave Jones a second chance to get his act together by placing him back on the team with strict disciplinary measures, but Jones slipped up again on February 22nd, when Jones allegedly raped and sodomized two women and broke his curfew. Louisville made the call to dismiss Jones the next morning which was the right move to protect their brand, but they could have done a better job of getting their version of the story out before the media could get a word in. Overall this situation is a great example of why organizations need to utilize good public relations and crisis management to protect their image.
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