He had his chances, probably more than he should. Ultimately, Purdue head coach Matt Painter had enough with Kelsey Barlow. The junior guard was dismissed from the team Friday afternoon after another incident.
According to the police report, Barlow was at Where Else Bar in West Lafayette late Thursday night and he either left or was kicked out. He then came back in search of his wallet. When he arrived, the bar would not let him back in.
That’s when he left once again, and returned with reinforcements –teammates Robbie Hummel and D.J. Byrd.
That’s when some altercation went down. Byrd was arrested and booked in jail early Friday morning, after allegedly swinging at the bouncer.
For Barlow, this wasn’t anything out of the norm for him. The Cathedral grad hung out with trouble and it continued at Purdue.
This was his last straw.
Coach Painter had no other option. He had warned him and suspended him, but neither worked. There was the incident late last season, where I was told Barlow showed up to practice drunk and teammates called him out.
Barlow just didn’t get it. He was given chance after chance and never changed.
Fans in the state of Indiana may best remember him for his choking gesture against Indiana. In turn, it looks like he was the one who choked.
Kelsey Barlow disregarded everything he had been given because of his basketball talents and threw it all out the window. We see this happen far too many times.
I saw it a lot in high school, where some of the best athletes failed to meet the 2.0 grade point average minimum. Seriously.
It wasn’t a tough decision for Coach Painter. He had given Barlow more than enough opportunities to prove he can be a student-athlete and represent Purdue with integrity.
He didn’t do that, and if anything, tore the team apart. He did more bad than good.
Other young athletes take note. Learn from his mistakes so that you don’t make them yourself.
When Purdue (17-9, 7-6) hosts Michigan State on Sunday, they will now be without two starters. In addition to Barlow being kicked off, Byrd was suspended one game for his arrest.
Barlow averaged 8.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 26 games this season.