As the WIAA Boys Basketball State Championships continue today, one player will be garnering a lot more attention than many of the others. It won’t be the high-flying Tyrese Halliburton of Oshkosh North or the high-scoring Jordan McCabe of Kaukauna. Instead, all eyes will be on Milwaukee Washington star Deontay Long–and for reasons that nobody wants to talk about.
Back in January, Long was convicted on a charge of Armed Robbery. In exchange for a guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed charges of Carjacking and Reckless Endangerment. According to the criminal complaint, Long and his friends pulled a gun on a Jimmy Johns delivery driver and another person–stealing money from them last summer. They then held a gun to the head of an 80-year old woman and stole her car–crashing it into a building before being arrested.
A lot of people are surprised to find out that being a convicted felon–or even being arrested for a crime–does not disqualify you from playing high school sports in Wisconsin. The WIAA has a code of conduct that covers drinking, smoking and drug use–but it leaves it up to individual schools to handle far more serious things like committing violent crimes. In a story done by WISN-TV in Milwaukee last week, WIAA Director Dave Anderson told the reporter that there had been “no arguments” from member schools to address eligibility of criminals–and when asked if he personally felt it needed to be addressed, Anderson (in typical WIAA official fashion) told her “Good luck with your story”.
It should be noted that Milwaukee Washington did take punitive action against Long following his arrest. He was suspended for the entire Cross Country season last fall–leaving him eligible to play his primary sport–basketball. It is not known if Long had run Cross Country any years before this one.
This is not the first time that a student-athlete that ran afoul of the law is taking the floor at the Kohl Center. In 2014, Dominic Cizauskus of Mukwonago played while police were investigating his sexual assault of a classmate–for which he was later convicted. And in 2016, Blake Dodd of Lake Geneva played at State after he was charged with Sexual Exploitation of a Child. Dodd would later be convicted on reduced charges. But those cases are different from Long’s in that due process had not yet run its course when they played–whereas Long is a convicted felon awaiting sentencing.
Those that advocate for Long’s continued participation will tell you that allowing him to play at State is an example of “restorative justice”. That if he were kicked off the team, he would likely drop out of school and commit more violent crimes–as if basketball was the only thing keeping a kid from breaking the law. I’m sure that makes the Jimmy Johns driver and the 80-year old woman that stared down the barrel of Long’s gun feel a lot better about themselves, knowing that “their community” will benefit from their assailant continuing to play hoops.
Hopefully Long enjoys his time at the Kohl Center, because it will likely be the last time he plays for awhile. Prosecutors will recommend a four year prison term when he is sentenced next month. Although, the judge could sentence him up to forty years.
