The off the court drama continues for the Villanova men's basketball team, as the announcement came today that Taylor King will not be a part of the program anymore, but will remain enrolled in the university. The official word is that King decided on his own to leave the team, but I don't buy it. My guess is that he did something wrong yet again, and that was the final straw for Jay Wright. Remember he was benched in the last game of the season due to a violation of team rules, and his minutes dwindled to virtually zero during the Big East Tournament and NCAA Tournament. Most likely, Jay gave him the benefit of the doubt and allowed for him to technically withdraw from the program, so it doesn't look like he was kicked off the team.
As I've been saying all along, the off the court issues need to stop. Too many players were getting into trouble at the end of last season, and it's no secret that the team chemistry faded when it mattered most. In the end, the loss of King could be a good thing. While it does weaken the team's rebounding ability, this will allow more minutes to be distributed amongst the sophomores and incoming freshmen. Also, hopefully the rest of the team realizes that basketball can be taken away from them just like that. If this can serve as a wake-up call, we may see a rejuvenated team next year.