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College basketball

Lions revoke star's scholarship after arrest

Marquis McCullough, the conference's leading scorer as a freshman, leaves after a second incident.

By STEVE LEE
Published November 3, 2005

ST. LEO - Saint Leo's Marquis McCullough is coming off a stellar season, but it might have been his first and last at the Division II school.

The scholarship for the former standout at King High in Tampa was revoked Oct.10, a day after his second arrest in five months.

After leading the Sunshine State Conference in scoring (an 18.4 average) and being chosen its freshman of the year, McCullough was arrested May9 in Tampa on marijuana-related offenses. That same month, the 20-year-old was named Saint Leo's male athlete of the year.

On Oct.9, McCullough was arrested on campus and charged with simple battery. According to a Pasco Sheriff's report, the alleged victim was Saint Leo student Christine Mcintosh, whom McCullough dated for about a year. It stated he was angry because Mcintosh told some people about his arrest for marijuana possession.

Coach Dave Madagan telephoned McCullough on Oct.10 to inform him his scholarship was revoked, and the sophomore point guard left campus that evening.

Madagan said McCullough was in a pretrial diversion program, had been working out with the team and disciplined for his May arrest.

"His scholarship was reduced a significant amount, and he was not going to play in our first three games of the season," Madagan said.

Revoking McCullough's scholarship, Madagan said, "wasn't a rash decision. One of the issues was there could be no other arrest. If so, it would be immediate grounds for dismissal."

Added Saint Leo athletic director Fran Reidy, "He ran afoul of the law, and that's not acceptable. The scholarship was revoked because of behavior detrimental to the team. Without the scholarship, he certainly was not able to afford the $20,000 (annual tuition) to stay in school."

McCullough could not be reached for comment. Neither Madagan nor Reidy would rule out McCullough's return next season, but both said basketball is no longer a priority.

"There's a road back, but obviously, he's got some things he has to do," Reidy said. "When a pattern develops, basketball isn't the priority."

"Usually, when people are doing things wrong, they're crying for help," Madagan said. "He needs some help. He has to be readmitted as a student before he could ever be a basketball player again."

For now, Madagan plans to replace McCullough with a combination of guards Michael Caulfield, Richard Blue and Leonard Bates (Pasco High).

"The difficult thing is the timing of it," Madagan said. "It's hard to replace someone of his caliber as a basketball player."

An all-SSC first-teamer last season, McCullough keyed Saint Leo's turnaround from four wins in 2003-04 to a 13-16 record and semifinal appearance in the conference tournament. In addition to his scoring title, McCullough was third in the conference in 3-pointers with a 2.21 average and fifth in assists at 4.07.

At King, McCullough led the Lions to a district title in 2003, the school's first since 1991. He scored 49 points against Durant that season and was a Times all-Hillsborough County first-teamer and all-Suncoast second-teamer.

[Last modified November 3, 2005, 01:06:17]