NCAA BasketballWeird But True

A College Basketball Player Got Kicked Off His Team, And Then Lost His Mind

Good Lord. This is as comprehensive an athlete freakout as we’ve ever heard of. Fresno Pacific University basketball player Leonard Young was informed earlier this week he was kicked off the team for “a violation of team standards” (later revealed to be missing a game). What he did next defied description. There’s not much to add to a story like this, so here’s what Young did:

A Fresno Pacific University basketball player went on a naked rampage Monday night near campus after being told that he had been kicked off the team, Fresno police said Tuesday.

Leonard Tyrell Young, 21, ran naked through a convenience store parking lot, tried to steal a police car, beat a police officer and police dog and withstood three Taser strikes before finally being subdued, police said.

The details only make the incident more mind-boggling. First, Young trashed his apartment. Then, he ran out into the street, naked. (Believe it or not, he “seemed intoxicated.”) He punched cars. And then, it gets really disturbing: he reportedly assaulted two women while he was at it. And the involvement of police didn’t restore order – it made Young go even crazier. He fought the officer who showed up, Brian Sturgeon. He fought the police dog. Oh, and that was all happening because Young tried to steal the police car:

Sturgeon pushed Young back, but Young got in the front seat and put the car in drive…Sturgeon managed to put a foot on the brake pedal, but Young drove the car at about 10 mph across the street. It came to a stop at the gas station.

The tasing – and Young’s amazing resistance to it – followed, before he finally got pulled out of the car. Thankfully, the involved officers and dog weren’t hurt, but we can’t help but be worried about Young here. According to Fresno Pacific, prior to missing the game, getting kicked off the team, and his resulting outburst, Young was doing quite well, both in school and on the court. And then…this?

Larry Brown Sports noted that Young’s arrest here might break the scale for “most badass way to get arrested,” but also – you’ve got to have some serious issues to do the sheer number of things Young supposedly did here. Obviously he has to face the consequences of this insanity, but after all that’s dealt with, let’s hope he goes back to the guy Fresno Pacific says it saw before all this went down, no matter how compellingly crazy it is.