Crime and Punishment

O ne of Gary Smith's finest stories:

Here is a man. Barely a man; he just ran out of adolescence. He stands alone, 2,000 miles from home, beside a swimming pool, in a stucco-walled apartment complex, in a city built on an American desert.

Seton Hall chancellor Thomas R. Peterson buckled under to intense pressure from media and alumni yesterday when he denied admission to star basketball recruit and admitted sex felon Richie Parker. NEW YORK POSTJan. 24, 1995

It's too hot to run. But he must run. He strips to his trunks. He steps into the pool. His body leans forward.

The University of Utah ceased its recruiting of former Manhattan Center basketball star Richie Parker in light of a barrage of media criticism and pressure from the university president regarding Parker's sexual abuse conviction. NEW YORK NEWSDAYMay 6, 1995

His hands ball up. His left elbow draws back, pushing against the water. Slowly his foot begins to rise from the floor of the pool.

[Photo Via: BBall Addicts]