Diamond Stone: Right Move for Maryland Terrapins to Give Suspension

The Maryland Terrapins decision to suspend freshman center Diamond Stone was the right thing to do.

Maryland Terrapins center Diamond Stone has been suspended for Thursday’s game against Minnesota after his incident in Saturday night’s 70-57 loss to the Wisconsin Badgers. It is a move that the University of Maryland and Mark Turgeon should be applauded for making.

After a mixup on the floor, Stone was seen on replay smashing Wisconsin forward Vitto Brown‘s head to the floor late in the first half. Stone should have been ejected from the game, but the referees determined it was just a technical foul instead of a flagrant. It was a topic that was much debate between us and our friends over at Badger of Honor, FanSided‘s home for Wisconsin news.

For those of you who have not seen the incident, watch the video below.

Stone should not have finished the game against Wisconsin so the next best thing the Terps could do was have him sit the next contest at Minnesota. Stone, Turgeon and Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson all reached out to Brown, his family, Wisconsin interim head coach Greg Gard and the Wisconsin athletic department to apologize for the incident.

“Diamond’s conduct during Saturday’s game was a poor representation of the standards that we have established as a program at the University of Maryland,” Turgeon said. “I have talked with Diamond and he realizes he made a mistake. He felt very badly about what happened and will learn from this experience. I want to sincerely apologize to Vitto Brown and Greg Gard for what transpired Saturday.”

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Stone also released a statement issuing an apology for his actions.

“I want to apologize to Vitto Brown and the Wisconsin basketball team for my unacceptable behavior during Saturday’s game,” Stone said in a statement. “I regret that I let the emotions of the game get the best of me. I let my team down, and I accept full responsibility for my actions.”

Stone is still a young man that has a lot of maturing to do. Guys who are 18 through 21 are going to have their moments when they have lapses in judgments. It’s also important to remember that there is some bad blood between Stone and Wisconsin. Stone is a Wisconsin native, but spurned the Badgers to come to College Park instead. The Terps were getting beat handedly at the time and Stone had to be frustrated by that.

Some may argue that the punishment is not severe enough. Minnesota is one of the worst teams in the country and has yet to win a Big Ten matchup. Turgeon does not really need Stone to win the game. Many of us can recall when Jarmal Reid of Oregon State tripped a referee earlier in the season. He was suspended four games for the incident for sticking his leg out. Reid didn’t take someone’s head and drive it into the floor.

Steven Ruiz of USA Today had a great piece about how Stone is receiving his penalty, but the head referee in that game is not. He makes an argument that DJ Cartensen should also be penalized for not tossing Stone. There is one particular line that really struck me, when Ruiz says “If that was Carstensen’s head getting bounced off the hardwood, Stone would not have played another minute this season.” Cannot argue with that statement.

Next: Wisconsin Ends Terps 27-Game Home Winning Streak

There is no excuse for Stone’s actions. They were despicable and worthy of an ejection. You can argue all you want about whether the suspension is long enough, but you have to commend the university for having him miss any time at all. The team could have decided to go on without punishment and act as if it was just part of the game. Instead, they made the right decision to make Stone be held accountable for his actions.