Renardo Needs to Grow Up. If Only He Knew How...

If you are a Mississippi State fan you have certainly loathed this past week.

Here you were; basking in the glow of consecutive Egg Bowl victories, an eight win football season, a new-years-day bowl game and the hottest young coaching prospect in the country.

MSU’s athletic department went as far as to begin putting up interstate billboard that feature a picture of said coaching prospect alongside an MSU logo altered to say, “Welcome to OUR State.” Genius! Scott Stricklin.

But, somewhere in the middle of your maroon high, Renardo Sidney decided that you weren’t paying him enough attention…and he did something…somethings about it.

Renardo got himself suspended. Not once, but twice… in a week – NO – in three days. All this, less than two weeks after coming off a NCAA levied suspension that lasted a year and 9 games.

First, upon MSU’s arrival to Hawaii, where they played their games last week, Sidney had an undisclosed blowup at a teammate in practice. The blowup cost Sidney MSU’s game versus Washington State. With him watching on the bench, MSU lost by 26.

Off suspension again and back on the floor, Sidney and the Dogs next faced the University of San Diego.

In the USD game, Renardo was magnificent: scoring when given the opportunity; hustling up and down the floor; rebounding; defending the post. Everything you heard that Sidney couldn’t do – everything he wasn’t supposed to be. The MPB sports commentator was gushing on twitter at the about-face we’d witnessed.

Then everyone in Mississippi went to sleep.

Before morning central time, one of the ugliest shiners in MSU sports history would be worn over and over and over and over again, on national television.

At 7:30pm Hawaiian time, 11:30pm here in Mississippi, Renardo Sidney and senior captain Elgin Bailey brawled through the stands and into the arena concourse. Fistfights usually last a matter of seconds. This one seemed to drag on for minutes.
The locals watched in shock. Teammates and coaches looked on stunned at what was happening right in front of them.

Luckily for Rick Stansbury, ESPN televised the tournament. Manned, live cameras - preparing for the next game which was to tip off in about 10 minutes - captured the entire event. And on the slowest sports news day of the entire year, when 99 percent of our country’s population was at home parked in front of a television, the footage played over and over and over again, all day and night long.

Reportedly, it all started because Sidney wanted past Bailey and Bailey refused to move his legs out of the way so Sidney could pass.

The Rebel Black Bear cackles.

Sidney and Bailey were sent back to Jackson early, and on separate flights. Bailey is rumored to be on borrowed time with the team. Sidney, meanwhile, is suspended again…indefinitely this time. Heard that before.

I feel sorry for Renardo Sidney. He doesn’t realize that his actions, ultimately, only hurt himself.

Let’s face it; he’s not at MSU to get an engineering degree. He’s there to enhance his professional basketball prospects. NBA teams and scouts are certainly taking notes on Renardo right now and it’s not an easy read.

The larger failure here is that, at some point, people stopped raising Sidney to be a viable part of society and started raising him to be a pro basketball player. A reverse-trust fund, if you will. That is a true shame.

I wonder what percentage of his time each day, and each week, is spent with people who have absolutely zero to potentially gain from his basketball ability? I’d be willing to bet that it’s very little…if any at all.

From the time he got into high school, his world has not been normal. He’s been yanked from school to school; traveling thousands of miles around the country playing AAU basketball. After graduating from Peoples Middle in South Jackson; Renardo was yanked away from Forest Hill High, in the same part of town, before he could get in the door; was recruited to Piney Woods School, and when he was declared ineligible there by the MHSAA, moved out to Los Angeles where his father ultimately wound up with a job from...a basketball shoe company.

Sidney only wound up at Mississippi State after almost everyone else including the two big LA schools – USC and UCLA – backed off, considering his eligibility case too toxic to attempt battling the NCAA on.

In the end, what kind of a human being will Renardo Sidney be when he is a grown-up; accountable to and responsible for himself; having completely severed himself from a potentially lavish career in the only industry he’s been prepared to compete in, for his entire short life.