[gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] [SUN]: Prospect Wall charged with breaking and entering

Tue, 05 May 2009 06:01:25 -0700

Citation unlikely to hurt Wall

Analysts: Schools won't be deterred

By Tim Stevens - Staff Writer

Published: Tue, May. 05, 2009 02:00AM

Modified Tue, May. 05, 2009 08:11AM

 
RALEIGH - John Wall received a misdemeanor citation last week, accused of breaking and entering a house in Southeast Raleigh, but the highly regarded high school basketball point guard probably still has his choice of college scholarship offers.
Dave Telep, the national recruiting analyst for scout .com , and Bob Gibbons, the analyst for All-Star Sports recruiting service, agreed a misdemeanor charge probably wouldn't deter most of the eight programs on Wall's list of potential schools.
"I think as long as things stay status quo and nothing else comes of this, I don't believe it will have much effect, if any, on his recruitment," Telep said.
Wall had planned to cut his list of Baylor, Duke, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Miami and N.C. State to three or four schools on Monday. He also had planned a trip to N.C. Central University last Friday but did not go.
Efforts to reach Wall for comment were unsuccessful.
Anna E. Smith, Wall's attorney, said, "Mr. Wall was never arrested. He was simply given a citation. And we are fully cooperating with the DA's office to resolve this matter as soon as possible."
Telep said schools aren't likely to stop recruiting Wall on the basis of the citation.
The exception, Telep said, would be a coach who believes he isn't going to get Wall anyway. Such a coach might use the charges as an excuse to stop recruiting him, Telep said.
Gibbons, a recruiting analyst for All-Star Sports, said the arrest might make some schools reconsider, though.
"Even though this is a misdemeanor, it creates one more question mark with John Wall," Gibbons said. "If an [athletic director] somewhere hears about this, the basketball coach might have to offer an explanation of why the school is recruiting John. This creates a little red circle around John; it creates more doubt.
"When you add this to borderline academics and the probability that he may play only one year -- and will he play for the good of his college team or for his NBA draft status? -- and there is a little bit more uncertainty. The misdemeanor may bother some schools more than others. This could be the determining factor in whether a school wants to have a relationship with him."
Wall, 18, and a senior at Raleigh Word of God Christian Academy, is the top-ranked high school player in the country by the rivals.com recruiting service and is No. 2 on the scout.com list. NBAdraft.net projects him as the first player to be taken in the 2010 NBA draft.
He averaged 21 points and nine assists for Word of God, which lost in the N.C. Independent School Athletic Association 1-A championship game.
Dr. Frank Summerfield, the Word of God Christian Fellowship pastor and the founder of Word of God Christian Academy, said he had talked with Wall about the citation last Tuesday.
"He acknowledged that he had not used good judgment and said he did not intentionally do anything wrong," Summerfield said. "John has never been in any trouble. Sometimes teenagers do not use the best judgment. John's citizenship has never been questioned."
Summerfield said the school plans no disciplinary action against Wall because he did not violate any school rules. Wall's school day usually ends at noon because he is not taking a full load of classes this semester, Summerfield said. Wall is on course to graduate.
Wall was detained about 12:30 p.m. April 27 by a Raleigh police officer responding to a report of a breaking and entering at an unoccupied dwelling at 3924 Laurel Glen Drive, Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue said in a statement.
The officer saw Wall leaving from the rear door of the yellow, two-story house and detained him without incident, Sughrue said.
The house is about three miles east of the Word of God campus.
A few minutes later, a second teenager, Bria Renea Draughn, 16, was detained while walking on a nearby street. A third, Reginald Leonard Jackson II, 17, was detained when he returned to the Laurel Glen Drive house in the Abbington Ridge subdivision, Sughrue said.
Each of the three was issued a citation on a misdemeanor charge of breaking and entering, said Wake County chief magistrate Gary Wills.
The citation is similar to one issued for a traffic violation, Wills said. "You can be cited for a misdemeanor breaking and entering," he said. No warrant was executed.
The citation has not been filed yet, but Sughrue said that was not unusual for a misdemeanor case such as this. "It was handled for what it was," he said.
There was no indication of forced entry at the residence and no indication that anything was taken from it, Sughrue said. The house is for sale but is not new construction and was previously occupied, he added.
Matt Plizga, the Duke associate sports information director, and Annabelle Myers, the N.C. State assistant athletic director for media relations, both said their schools would have no comment on the Wall report. They said NCAA rules prevent school officials from commenting on prospective student-athletes.
The fact that Wall's charge is a misdemeanor rather than a felony helps his chances of playing college basketball.
Duke's written policy specifies that athletes charged with felonies are banned from game competition until the charges are resolved. N.C. State's policy suspends students charged with a felony from athletic participation.
As a misdemeanor, Wall's charge prevents those written policies from being an obstacle.
 
 
 

Reading the comments - you never know if they are true or not - but this comment may be the truth

 

<<All the kid did was go to an abandoned house to party. It was stupid and he knew he was breaking the law ...>>

 

 

Sounds to me kids were going to the abandoned house to party - some parent wanted sleep - or was worried they were up to no good and called the cops.  Doesn't sound like a big deal to me. 

 

If this kid was not such a high profile player - it would have never made the news. 

 

 

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] [SUN]: Prospect Wall charged with
breaking and entering
From: Jerry Belloit <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, May 05, 2009 7:30 am
To: [email protected]

Keith,

 

I have been wondering about this as well.  Has your paper suggested that the house was used as a drug location?  Was this simply a “haunted house”?

 

Jerry

 

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 5:26 AM
To: gatortalk googlegroups
Subject: [gatortalk] RE: [gatornews] [SUN]: Prospect Wall charged with breaking and entering

 

 

This story is big up here in Raleigh - but makes no sense.

 

The cops admit he did not break in and he did not steal anything. 

 

How can it be "breaking and entering"?

 

If the house had posted no trespassing signs - then it could be trespassing. 

 

 

 

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: Prospect Wall charged with breaking and
entering
From: "Shane Ford" <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, May 04, 2009 7:44 pm
To: [email protected] (GatorNEWS)

Prospect Wall charged with breaking and entering


The Associated Press

Published: Monday, May 4, 2009 at 5:17 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, May 4, 2009 at 5:17 p.m.

 

RALEIGH, N.C. — One of the Gators' and the nation’s most sought-after basketball recruits has been charged with a misdemeanor breaking and entering after police found him walking out of a vacant house in North Carolina, police said Monday.

John Wall, 18, was detained briefly April 27 in Raleigh, but not arrested. He and two other teenagers were cited. Police said there was no indication of forced entry at the empty house or that anything was taken.

Wall, a point guard at Raleigh Word of God, was voted The Associated Press men’s prep basketball player of the year for North Carolina in March.

He has not announced a college choice, but has been pursued by Florida, Duke, North Carolina State, Kansas, Memphis, Miami, Kentucky, among others.

Frank Jackson, an assistant district attorney in Wake County, which includes Raleigh, said a person convicted of such an offense could face up to 120 days in jail. But he said a first-time offender would likely have to perform community service.

A call to Wall’s home in Raleigh found the phone was disconnected. His mother didn’t have a listed phone number, and message to the school’s athletic director wasn’t immediately returned.

 


 



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