Ryan Cline Is Lucky To Still Be On The Team

[UPDATE: On Friday, Matt Painter announced that Ryan Cline would be suspended longer, through the first four regular season games. Assuming he doesn't screw up further, he may return during the Cancun trip.]

More details emerged today on what exactly happened on June 27 when Ryan Cline was arrested.

As most of us know, he was suspended for three contests to start this season, including last night’s exhibition. Based on what we’ve now seen today, it sounds like he kind of got off light. Especially when you consider how long some of the penalties went on for AJ Hammons for transgressions that must have been less severe.

Cline was found unconscious and unresponsive in his Lexus with his foot on the gas pedal and the engine revving. Was the Lexus in neutral or park? Or was this in a ditch where the drive wheels were spinning fruitlessly? I would assume it’s the former but there’s no further detail given on this. But regardless, holy sh-t, is this reckless, dangerous, idiotic behavior.

The officer knocked on the windows and was unable to get Cline to wake up so he smashed in the window. That apparently wasn’t enough to roust Ryan:

After breaking the window, Mustain said he unlocked the door and turned off the ignition. He then performed sternum rubs to wake Cline up and called for medics because Cline "was not readily responsive and extremely lethargic." Mustain said he smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the car.

I personally have very little patience for people who smoke weed and act like it doesn’t have any deleterious effects. But to each his own – live your life, my friends. However, the minute you get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle when you’re impaired, well, now it is everyone else’s business and zero tolerance is fine with me.

Mustain said he found a plastic bag containing green leafy substance as well as an orange prescription pill bottle with a small amount of green leafy substance in the middle consul cup holder of the Lexus. The total weight was less than 30 grams.

Ah, so a prescription drug vial, too. Sweet. But hey, all just innocent fun in college, right defenders? (One of the working theories is that the Rx bottle was a place to hold his weed. Whatever.)

To my mind, Ryan Cline is lucky to have not been kicked off the team entirely. How would this have been handled if he’d passed out and driven into a dormitory? Or run a kid over?

Oh, and for some reason, this bothers me even more – the time of all this nonsense? 9:53 AM.

Over the years, we've attempted to be careful about not coming down too hard on Purdue athletes on this site. We feel like they deserve support as they've chosen to represent all of us by wearing the black and gold. But that's mainly about on-field/court performances. Not about dipshit decisions off the field of play. 

It sounds to me like Ryan Cline needs some help. Some professional help. And sometimes, to increase clarity and to increase one's ability to focus on what's actually important, you need to remove all other distractions. Maybe that means basketball.