After having four players charged with misdemeanor crimes last year, Wright State head coach Billy Donlon has penalized his squad by canceling a planed overseas trip for his squad this summer.
Donlon announced at the public meeting of the WSU Athletics Council in October that the team was planning on returning to Italy in 2015 only to cancel those plans. Donlon asked The Guardian to wait two months before reporting the decision.
“When all this took place, at the end of August, we were getting ready to sign a contract to go back to Italy, it was done, we were going,” Donlon said before members of the Athletics Council. “We had permission from President (David) Hopkins, Dan (Abrahamowicz), Bob (Grant), Rod (Perry) and based on the behavior, I canceled the trip.”
The NCAA permits basketball teams to take overseas trips once every four years. As part of the trips, programs are allowed to get extra practices and play games against club teams at their destination. The Raiders last traveled in 2011 when the squad visited Italy.
During the offseason, three men’s basketball players were charged with various alcohol charges. Another player, senior center Tavares Sledge, was released from the basketball team after Donlon found a gun in Sledge’s car at WSU’s practice facility. Sledge subsequently spent three days in a Greene County jail on illegal firearm possession.
“Clearly we don’t have 17 guys acting inappropriately, but the act of a few did affect the many,” Donlon said. “If you don’t think it is significant we canceled that trip, it is very significant. Is that the only punishment? It is not, but we have done things and will continue to do things to correct and rectify the behavior.”
At the same meeting, Donlon was critical to the media’s response to the offseason legal trouble Wright State’s players got into.
“I don’t think 18-22 year olds multiple times should have their name in the paper, that is my opinion” Donlon said. “I don’t think if it was your son or daughter, you would want your son or daughter’s name in the paper eight or nine times for their digressions. I don’t think any of us would and I think that gives us more of a principled, realistic view.”
Closing in on 1,000 points 
After scoring 10 points against Youngstown State last week, Arceneaux is 47 points away from joining the 1,000-point club going into tonight’s game against Cleveland State.
Arceneaux has been battling a broken bone in his foot in recent weeks. Last week’s 10-point performance was just Arceneaux’s second double-figure game in 12 contests.
Attendance up
Going into tonight’s tilt, Wright State is leading the Horizon League in attendance averaging 4,273 per game through six contests. Wright State is drawing nearly 1,800 above the league’s average this season.
Through six games last year, Wright State averaged 3,200 fans.
Despite the rise in attendance at Wright State, the average attendance for the Horizon League is down from last year. Last year, the league averaged 2,900 fans per game.
Scouting Cleveland State
Tonight’s game between Wright State and Cleveland State marks a rematch of a tightly contested Horizon League semifinal contest last year. The road team won both of the regular season matchups with WSU topping CSU in the league’s semifinal played in Green Bay.
The Vikings are coming off their first Horizon League loss of the year after a 3-0 start to league play. Cleveland State lost at Valpo 58-56 Saturday.
Trey Lewis, who averages 16 points a game, leads CSU. Dayton native Andre Yates has started in all 18 contests for the Vikings averaging 7.1 points per game.
