Maryland Suspends Diamond Stone Just One Game For Shoving Opponents Head Into Floor

Diamond Stone is a stud freshman big man whose presence has made No. 5 Maryland (22-4, 10-3) a legitimate national title contender, but he’s going to sit out the team’s next game after his horrid behavior during Saturday’s home loss to Wisconsin.

The 19-year-old freshman completely lost his mind against the Badgers. With the Terrapins trailing 35-19 late in the first half, Stone got tangled up with Wisconsin’s Vitto Brown on the floor under the basket, and as he got up, Stone shoved Brown’s head into the court.

There is absolutely no place for that in college basketball. It was a clear, deliberate act by Stone and the fact that he wasn’t immediately ejected for it should bother everyone. Given what we know about head injuries in sports these days, he should have been tossed and I’m not sure the one-game suspension Maryland issued on Monday is enough of a punishment. Sure, Stone is just a kid and he made a mistake, but if he wasn’t vitally important to the Terps’ run at a Big Ten title, he probably would have faced a two or three game ban at least.

As it is, Stone will miss a road game against Minnesota, a team that is 6-19 and has yet to win a Big Ten game (0-13). He’ll be back for a home contest against Michigan (19-7, 9-4) and a tough road game against Purdue (20-6, 8-5).

Stone is currently averaging 12.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. It’s sad that because of his numbers and Maryland’s place in the standings that we have to question whether or not he should have been suspended longer. His action was no different than throwing a punch. His suspension should have reflected that.