Williams: Cincinnati Bearcats coach does right thing on Jizzle James. It's not easy

Wes Miller deserves some credit, right? The University of Cincinnati basketball coach dismissed a star player from the team despite the coach facing what should be a make-or-break season.Will UC fans and more important, major donors be more willing to cut Miller some slack if the Bearcats don't make the 2026 NCAA Tournament after he dismissed returning leading scorer Jizzle James this week? TBD.Miller enters his fifth season at UC, and he hasn't taken the Bearcats to March Madness yet.

As pressure mounts on him to make the tournament, Miller's buyout is set to significantly decrease after the 2025-26 season.Whatever happens, it's refreshing that Miller put the greater good of the program ahead of his future.

Maybe Miller didn't have a choice.

Maybe every coach would've made the same decision.

We may never know, but things with James behind the scenes didn't sound good.Maybe this praise needs to be tempered.

After all, Miller's statement didn't outright say James has been "dismissed." The coach said James has been "removed" from the team and "he is currently not a member of our basketball program." The keyword there is "currently." Does that mean James can earn his way back onto the roster? Or is that a lawyered, parsing of words complicated by James' name, image and likness contract? Miller said he'd have no further comment.It may seem silly to praise a big-time college coach for doing what's obviously right.

But doing-what's-right has often been the archenemy of college basketball coaches.

That's all too familiar to long-time UC fans, who remember Bob Huggins giving second- and third-chances to guys after run-ins with the law.

As far as we know, James has not been in any legal trouble.And there's never been a time in college athletics to flout doing-what's-right.

For coaches, the pressure to win has never been greater and the job duties have never been more challenging in the era of paying players and the transfer portal.

Try to hold a player accountable, and he can threaten to leave without consequence.There really aren't any rules in college athletics.

More over, there are no severe consequences for breaking the rules listed on paper.

The latest example: University of Michigan this week got slapped with a $20 million fine for cheating in football.

No postseason ban or loss of scholarships.

The University of Michigan ranks among the top-five richest colleges in the U.S.

A fine is letting a school with a $19 billion endowment off easy.No one outside the UC program would've been surprised if Miller had kept James on the roster.

It might have been toxic internally and ultimately led to UC not winning enough to make the NCAA Tournament.So be it.

But there should at least be some acknowledgment for a coach making the right decision.

Contact columnist Jason Williams at [email protected] article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bearcats coach Wes Miller does right thing on Jizzle James.

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