Two days ago, we passed along a story we came across about New Mexico's former point guard, Marlon Parmer, who as a high school player led Verbum Dei to back to back State titles two and three seasons ago.   The story noted that Parmer was unhappy with the team, and would only return to the team if Coach Fran Fraschilla wasn't there.  If you want to read it in full, here's the link.

Well, in our flood of e-mails that we have to go through each day, we neglected to read our daily dose  from The Sporting News's Mike DeCourcy, who posted his "Bricks & Swishes" column yesterday.   Among the "bricks" for the week, was this little item, which gives a slightly different perspective on Parmer's taking leave of the Lobos' team:

BRICK: Former New Mexico guard Marlon Parmer wasn't content to undermine the Lobos while he played for them. He also had to take a shot at them on his way out. 

Parmer was dismissed from the program earlier this week, following the Lobos' disastrous performance in losing to Utah at home Monday night. Parmer, though, tried to spin the story by claming he'd quit -- as if walking out on your team at midseason is more honorable -- and declaring he'd play for the Lobos only if Fran Fraschilla no longer were coach. 

Parmer was suspended last week because his teammates no longer were willing to tolerate his selfish play. His presence on the team became so disruptive that one Lobos player approached the coaching staff about redshirting next season because he did not want to spend a year of eligibility on a team that would include Parmer. When the staff conducted a vote last week regarding whether to let him return, six players voted against it and the other five consented only if he were restored with stringent conditions.

The conditions weren't that harsh. Parmer was asked to accept a demotion that was not considered permanent, to play occasionally as a shooting guard and, most important, commit himself to the team. That lasted one game, an impressive win last Saturday against BYU. When he wasn't restored to the starting lineup, Parmer declined to shoot or penetrate against Utah. His entry into the game precipitated a collapse from a 12-4 lead by New Mexico.  

Should be interesting to see where Parmer winds up after this. . . .

 
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