We've already mentioned--twice--the snow job that tailback Jevon Pugh has received from the media and the coaching staff. And now, the Jevon Pugh era at Iowa has apparently come to a silent, disappointing end. According to Scott Dochterman of the CR Gazette, Pugh has not enrolled at Iowa for the spring semester.
Pugh, as you may recall, was the heir apparent at tailback for the next three seasons before being named by the Des Moines Register in the sexual assault scandal that continues to hang over the program. The other two athletes, Cedric Everson and Abe Satterfield, were quickly suspended and left the program after the season. Pugh remained eligible and scored the winning touchdown against Michigan State after Albert Young injured his shoulder.
There is no evidence available that Pugh had any connection to the victim other than associating with her and Satterfield at one point in the night. Whether he should have been out at all is, of course, its own issue, but not one that merits removal from the team or school.
We cannot, of course, insist that Pugh did nothing wrong. We weren't there that night. We do know that Ferentz chose to remove the other two players from the team immediately, but never chose to do so with Pugh. He chose to announce the departures of three different players, but never chose to do so with Pugh. He's never, that we can recall, hung a player out to dry like this. He has chosen to do so with Pugh.
And so Pugh unceremoniously leaves a university that no longer trusts his name and a coach who never cared to defend his player. To call it a shame would be a massive understatement.