Gonzaga suspends Heytvelt, Davis

SPOKANE -- Most of the players had cleared out of the plush Gonzaga locker room. In an adjoining room, on an HDTV, the Kentucky-Florida game was being shown. And on the crawl underneath, the news of the day was repeated, again and again:

"Gonzaga players Josh Heytvelt and Theo Davis suspended ... "

The age of innocence at Gonzaga, be it real or imagined, died here Saturday, when the news spread that Heytvelt, the ultra-gifted sophomore big man from Clarkston, and Toronto freshman forward Davis were busted late Friday night in nearby Cheney with a small amount of marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms.

That last allegation could constitute a felony.

Police said they stopped Heytvelt's SUV for defective tail lights. So between the invitation to the cops to stop the vehicle -- malfunctioning lights -- and the 11:42 p.m. hour on a night before a game, and the fact Heytvelt is/was almost a certain future NBA first-round draft choice, are we OK in assuming this blows out circuits on the stupid meter?

"We deal with 18-to-22 year-olds," said a weary Mike Roth, Gonzaga's athletic director, Saturday night. "At some point, they make bad decisions.

"This wasn't a bad decision; it was horrible."

Mark Few, the Gonzaga coach, has been here 18 years, and had never gotten the call he got at 7:30 a.m.

"My first call," he said, looking tired and stressed after Gonzaga dispatched Saint Mary's, 60-49. "The early-morning call ... you think about how blessed you are not to get 'em."

And so, a round of meetings began: Roth and Few; then a march to President Robert Spitzer's office, where the three were joined by two Gonzaga vice presidents, the chairman of the board of trustees and counsel.

They don't do this if you're a philosophy major without a scholarship. But Gonzaga basketball is a huge enterprise here, almost a religious experience for this Jesuit school and the city.

Tom Hudson, the Gonzaga radio broadcaster, said on the air that the news had initially seemed to "suck the air out of the arena and out of the city."

In a statement earlier in the day, Few didn't hide from the possible impact to Gonzaga's image.

"We regret the far-reaching effect this has on our program and the university," he said.

When Few and Roth met, they kicked around every conceivable penalty for the two charged players, finally conceding that they couldn't make a decision on emotion. So Heytvelt is suspended indefinitely; Davis is redshirting after shoulder surgery but was once considered a top-40 talent among high-school players.

The university here has a student code of conduct, and it covers allegations such as this one. But it doesn't specify a penalty, and sources say the school usually tailors sanctions to court proceedings. So initially, at least, the suspension is for the act of being out late and out of town the night before a game, and nobody wanted to guess at whether Heytvelt could return this year -- if ever.

In terms of a school decision, Roth said, "they'll be treated by Student Life no different from the engineering major. They've done a good job of treating them as students, and that's what they'll do in this case."

The impact on Gonzaga's NCAA tournament chances could be profound. The Zags were close to a slippery slope at 18-8, but more in than out. Now, if Heytvelt is done, they'll be judged on how they compete down the stretch, including a game Saturday against supercharged Memphis.

Today, that doesn't seem important. The real issue is what it means for the school and the program. Roth and Few know the charge will be made that Gonzaga has changed from those halcyon days of six and seven years ago -- that when it grew into a national power, its standards backslid.

"We haven't compromised standards," Roth insisted, "and we won't compromise standards. We're still recruiting quality kids."

Few: "I think it's an isolated situation where a kid made a mistake, plain and simple. Just go to colleges across America. My dad [a minister] says, 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.' Anybody that's passing judgment might look inside themselves."

On the most tumultuous day since Gonzaga burst onto the national scene eight years ago, the Zags went out and handcuffed a team that had beaten them earlier. The effort was supreme, a team and 6,000 people trying to rally each other.

"I told them that's as proud as I've been after a game in the 18 years I've been here," Few said. "That effort -- how could you not be inspired by that?"

Derek Raivio and Matt Bouldin each scored 12 points for Gonzaga.

"It was an unbelievable effort for the guys on an incredibly emotional, long, hard day," Few said. "Our guys responded like the champions they are."

Gonzaga extended its home-court win streak to 50 games, making 25 of 54 from the floor, while Saint Mary's (13-13, 5-5) shot 20 of 47. After making 35 percent of its shots in the first half, Gonzaga hit 60 percent in the second.

Somewhere, Josh Heytvelt, a decent kid who blew it, must have been simply miserable. He may have cost himself millions Friday night, but even that seems secondary.

He played fast and loose with a reputation Friday night -- his and Gonzaga's.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.