Gamecocks suspend Garcia
South Carolina QB punished after latest run-in with police
By Travis Haney
The Post and Courier/File
Stephen Garcia
COLUMBIA — If Stephen Garcia is to win the job as South Carolina's starting quarterback, as many thought he would entering spring practice, he's going to have to do it the hard way. And that's grossly understating it.
The trouble-ridden redshirt freshman has been suspended from all team activities through Aug. 15, USC athletic director Eric Hyman said Tuesday in a release.
Garcia has been suspended from spring practice both years he's been on campus.
The new punishment stems from Garcia's most recent run-in with police, a citation issued Saturday evening by USC police for underage possession outside a residence hall.
Offensive guard Heath Batchelor and walk-on quarterback Zac Brindise were also present and ticketed.
So was Garcia's 25-year-old brother, Gary, who was visiting from Delaware. He was charged with transferring beer to minors.
Brindise will sit out practice a few days, coach Steve Spurrier said. Batchelor practiced Monday after getting a "pardon" from Spurrier. Spurrier said he believes Batchelor was "falsely accused" in the incident.
USC police were summoned hours after the incident when Garcia discharged a fire extinguisher in his residence hall after he "noticed sparks coming from his stove." No charges were filed, but Garcia was issued student discipline.
Spurrier said Monday night that Garcia's "fate is out of my hands." He referred questions to Hyman and the school's administration.
Tuesday, the university's official position was that the three students had entered the student discipline process. Later, sources confirmed that Garcia would be removed from university housing and suspended from summer classes.
Garcia, who will be allowed to finish off the spring semester, is expected to return home to Tampa, Fla., for the summer months.
The suspension from team activities, which came from an afternoon meeting with Hyman, naturally followed.
Garcia could not be reached Tuesday for comment, but his father sounded shell-shocked in a brief conversation.
"It's devastating to him and to us that you can make what you think is a simple decision like that and it's the dumbest decision he's ever made," Gary Garcia
Sr. said. "He's got to live with it. He's 20 years old, more than 50 miles away from us. He's got to live his own life.
"We raised him to make better choices than that. I know that."
Following a pair of arrests shortly after he arrived a year ago, Spurrier said Garcia was on his "final strike."
"I'll accept whatever they say," Spurrier said Monday, referring to USC's administration. "He's had a lot of chances here. We'll see what happens."
The most highly touted QB signed by Spurrier at USC, Garcia arrived as a 2007 early-enrollee with a load of expectations.
But some began to wonder when Garcia was arrested Feb. 17 for public drunkenness and failure to stop on police command. Two weeks later, he was arrested again. This time, for keying a visiting professor's car after a dispute over a parking spot.
Those incidents led Spurrier to suspend Garcia from spring practice.
He was reinstated after the team's spring game, and Spurrier said was he hopeful Garcia would right his personal life.
Recent indications revealed that he might have. Garcia has seemed contrite after each transgression. He spoke Friday, a day before the most recent run-in, about maturing and what those past mistakes had meant to him.
"I'm kind of glad it happened, because I feel like I grew up a whole lot," Garcia said just after USC's first spring practice. "I feel like I learned a whole lot, not only about the playbook, but the school and the city. I'm not really happy that it happened, but, in a sense, it helped me out a whole lot."
Garcia said, too, that the birth of a son, Memphys, had helped propel the growing-up process. Memphys and his mother live in Tampa.
"It's unbelievable," he said. "You're not really living for yourself anymore. You've got a family to support. You've got someone looking up to you that's not a fan or a teammate or someone else's kid. You've got your own kid."
Without Garcia, Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher are left to take the snaps at quarterback.
"I'm not worried about it," Spurrier said Monday. "We've got Tommy Beecher and Chris Smelley, and we know they're always going to be here. They do everything we ask. They're wonderful kids. And they can throw the ball, they can play. We'll worry about Stephen if he comes back out here."
Garcia's drawn a lot of attention for someone who's yet to play a down.
"I don't think I'm used to it yet. There's a huge expectation. I'm just going to try to live up to it," Garcia said. "I hear it all the time. I'm riding my scooter and people are like, 'Garcia, hey, go win the starting job.' I try not to pay attention to it."
Senior Kenny McKinley smiled Saturday when he talked about why Garcia, who grew out his famed long locks again after last year's arrests, has become such a popular figure.
"He's like a rock star, man," said McKinley, the All-SEC receiver. "He's got the long hair. He had those run-ins with the law. He's like a bad boy.
"People just expect a lot from him. I think he's going to give everybody what they're waiting on."
But first there'll be a wait for Garcia's return to the field. Again.
Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the new South Carolina blog at charleston.net/blogs/gamecocks.
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bigriver1 (anonymous) says...
So, let me ask this question again wonder stevie. Exactly what does your final strike mean? Suspension? What a joke sc football is and the latest legend to the rescue! Parents pay close attention. Thug U! The NCAA needs to step in and shut this out of control joke of a program down. The death penalty is in order for this out of control joke of a program!! Thugs and criminals, parents do you want your kid to play at THUG U ?
March 26, 2008 at 7:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
carolinadude (anonymous) says...
this kid is an obvious loser. He needs to be kicked out of school (expelled) to set an example. What we have here is another Derrick Watson fiasco. When will my beloved Carolina learn?
March 26, 2008 at 8:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Clemsurf (anonymous) says...
If it were my football program, the first offense would be a warning and possible suspension depending on the severity of the offense. The second offense would be automatic removal from the team. I don't care if you're a benchwarmer or an all NCAA starting quarterback. Having a player like Garcia on your team gives the team a bad name and it could possibly hurt future recruiting. If I saw a team that had discipline problems, I know I probably wouldn't want to go there. Is one player worth the risk of losing future recruits?
March 26, 2008 at 8:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Brant (anonymous) says...
Isn't this just typical of these self-possessed jocks? They think they can get away with anything because they play Football and play what's become the glamour positon. They're above rules that apply to the rest of us. Maybe SC could show a little guts and tell him that he's not welcome or that he's been demoted. Maybe that'd bring him back to reality. Then again, he's a jock; he doesn't know what it's like to be told NO!
March 26, 2008 at 8:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
843allday (anonymous) says...
Garcia needs to go. And his older brother needs his tail kicked! My older sibling would get in my butt when I would step out of line, not add fuel to the fire!
March 26, 2008 at 8:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
yeayea (anonymous) says...
put reid in!
March 26, 2008 at 11:02 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
notafan (anonymous) says...
Send him punk back to Florida. He is nothing but a drain on the program and had too many chances. And Reid is not the answer. He is not a SEC QB. Div II at best.
bigriver- please keep up your uneducated thoughts. Can you walk and chew gum at the same time??
March 26, 2008 at 11:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KidYendor (anonymous) says...
When I used to go visit my college friends at USC the drinking age was 18 and we had fun. It is natural for people over 18 to want to drink a few beers and they should not get into trouble for it. Lets lower the drinking age in SC to 18 for beer and wine to keep the players out of trouble.
March 26, 2008 at 12:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
charleston_grown (anonymous) says...
def. agree with you kidyendor. it is just a shame that SG can't use his head and stay out of trouble. hopefully his actions don't end up hurting the gamecocks, but at somepoint this kid needs to wake up and realize that he has an opportunity to do something great and not waste his chances by consistently putting himself in bad situations.
March 26, 2008 at 1:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ashleyriver (anonymous) says...
KidYendor---while I generally agree with your frequent assertions that a ton of money/time/lives has been wasted in the investigation and prosecution of marijuana offenders and that it should be legalized and controlled............I pretty much disagree that the drinking age should be lowered (except for military personnel) back to 18-----but especially NOT to protect athletes. Kids who want it don't seem to have a great deal of trouble obtaining alcohol anyhow.
just my opinion
March 26, 2008 at 2:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theronce (anonymous) says...
Not proud of it...but I once regularly used my fake paper drivers license to get beer and drinks in strip joints down on Rivers Avenue when I was 15. Times have changed, and what I did was wrong. But even then you had to use a little bit of sense to keep from getting caught or in a fight or tossed out or rolled.
March 26, 2008 at 3:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KidYendor (anonymous) says...
Hello ashley and grown, it just seems a bit severe to kick college students out if they get caught with a beer. And Garcia has a child! Lets compromise with the MADD women and lower the age to 19 for beer and wine. At 15 and 16 years old, we used to get six packs of beer and Boone's Farm wine at that drive-through window pizza place on Rivers at Remount to take to take to our beloved drive-ins. I know the name but will not divulge for their privacy and to not start investigations that could go on for months and get in the media and waste police time. Of course it is long closed but the building is still up. We made it home just fine after the movies were over. I am glad I grew up when I did.
March 26, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
charlestonhome (anonymous) says...
Diehard fan, but like the departure of Derek Watson, Demetrius Summers, and others, we'll fill up the stands regardless of the players. We have some depth at QB and will be fine. As for the CU fans like bigriver1 above, please, Clemson lecturing on athletes in trouble with the law?? Give me a break. Thats like Al Parish giving financial advice..............
March 26, 2008 at 7:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wonderdog (anonymous) says...
They are not kicking him out of college - they are suspending him from the football program. How many second chances should someone who is receiving a free college education get? I have a child in college, and a significant amount of her scholarship money is renewable each year on several conditions, including her GPA and the absence of any disciplinary infractions. What's wrong with that? NOTHING.
"Garcia said, too, that the birth of a son, Memphys, had helped propel the growing-up process."
Apparently NOT.
March 26, 2008 at 8:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
elcid81 (anonymous) says...
It is sad that this kid has to learn the hard way. He might have been a good quarterback....Carolina and the SEC will never know. Hope the administration steps up soon and makes the right move by sending this kid on.
How about the Garcia boys pull a tour in Iraq? They would get a steady check and they might learn a few things..better yet sober up and see the true meaning of life and what freedom is. It's in the 100s today...Go Dogs!!!
March 26, 2008 at 10:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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