Iowa State University president Steven Leath says he is “comfortable” with Cyclone coach Fred Hoiberg’s decision to issue a one-game suspension to a player who was arrested after noise complaints from neighbors.
“I’m very familiar with this situation, as you can imagine,” Leath says. “Generally my style is to hire good people, the kind of people you trust to run the program that you want run and let them make decisions.”
Bryce Dejean-Jones will not play in tonight’s match-up in Iowa City against the Hawkeyes after his midweek arrest, but he is slated to play Sunday for the Cyclones. As for whether Dejean-Jones could be suspended indefinitely for his behavior, Leath says it’s “possible” but “unlikely”.
“Coach Hoiberg is trying to factor in a number of things, not only developing players, but developing young men,” Leath says, “And he is trying to find an appropriate policy and approach to making a student athlete understand his role and his responsibility and really the aspects that go with wearing the Iowa State uniform.”
Leath says he’s intentionally given ISU coaches like Hoiberg the “autonomy” to make these kinds of decisions.
“I am available to him and athletics on all of these to use as a sounding board. They know how I feel about these type of issues. They know what our standards are. They know what goes with the privilege of wearing the uniform, so this one went in a way in that I was very proud of Coach Hoiberg. I think he made the right decision at the right time,” Leath says. “I actually went over there last evening to compliment him on the decision after he made it.”
Leach made his comments during taping of the Iowa Public Television program, “Iowa Press” that airs tonight at 7:30 p.m.
Dejean-Jones shares an apartment with an ISU player who is sitting out this season and neighbors called police Wednesday night to complain about a loud party in the apartment. Dejean-Jones was originally charged with hosting a drug house, as well as noise and nuisance violations, but a judge dismissed the drug-related charge on Thursday, citing a lack of probable cause. Police say they smelled pot smoke when they entered the apartment and a small amount of marijuana was found on a dresser.