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BYU's 6-foot-7, 410-pound recruit lasted exactly eight days as the Cougars' biggest story of National Signing Day.
Thursday's news reports of running back Charles West's facing charges of aggravated assault in his hometown of Coppell, Texas, have changed the conversation about BYU's recruiting class. His attorney expressed confidence that West will be cleared on the second-degree felony charges, and BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall has the option of letting the legal system run its course.
Mendenhall, at the very least, needs to say that's what he intends to do. West's charges, coming after the Cougars' season ended with a brawl at the Miami Beach Bowl, certainly are not what BYU needed at this stage, and some response from Mendenhall is appropriate.
Characterizing a fan base's viewpoint is tricky. Journalism 101 teaches us never to use phrases such as "60,000 screaming fans," because it's probably not true that all of them were screaming. Yet my sense is that most BYU fans would like to know that West's scholarship status at least is being evaluated by Mendenhall and the athletic department.
Mendenhall has not outlined any punishment of players since the bowl game, although he hinted in interviews last week that suspension for practices and potentially games in 2015 are in the works. As I've said before, he doesn't have to publicly announce names, but why not generally discuss the sanctions so fans will know he's taking the incident seriously?
The same is true of West's case. The obvious precedent is former linebacker Kyle Van Noy, whose scholarship was honored while his enrollment was deferred in the 2009 recruiting class. Mendenhall took that action immediately when Van Noy was charged with DUI in Nevada, prior to the legal process playing out.
Similarly, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham pushed back former quarterback Tyler Shreve's arrival in 2010, without waiting for a conviction after Shreve was charged with assaulting his high school baseball coach in California.
Mendenhall can allow West's case to be resolved before making a decision about him. That's his choice. But not saying anything about him in the meantime can only harm the image of BYU's program. Remember, bad publicity stemming from legal issues had a lot to do with former coach Gary Crowton's firing, and subsequently shaped Mendenhall's job description.
Mendenhall's recent approach has been to not humiliate players by announcing suspensions. But at some point, BYU fans want to be assured that the athletes — and recruits — representing their school are being held accountable, don't they?
Twitter: @tribkurt