University of Michigan soph Mitch McGary has received a one-year suspension after failing a drug test for marijuana. "I don't think the penalty fits the crime," he says. "One year is overdoing it a little bit."
McGary sat out most of the 2013-14 season with a back injury. One night in March, just before the NCAA basketball tournament started, he smoked weed with some friends. "I always turned it down," McGary tells Yahoo Sports. "But that night I didn't."
Two weeks later he was on the bench when the Wolverines played Tennessee in the Sweet 16 round. After the game, McGary was selected randomly by an NCAA official for a drug test, which came up positive for pot. The NCAA's penalty for failing a drug test is a one-year suspension; however, the NCAA changed this policy to a half-year suspension in April, shortly before making its decision on McGary.
"They don't show any mercy," McGary says. "They take their things seriously."
So rather than lose a year, McGary says he'll enter the 2014 NBA draft in June instead. "I feel I'm ready," he adds, "but this pushed it overboard."
The 6-10 forward averaged 8.5 points and 7.3 rebounds during his two seasons in Ann Arbor.
