Pitino says Gophers' three player suspensions were his call

Coach Richard Pitino told a packed media room Tuesday at Williams Arena that it was his decision "in the end" to suspend Kevin Dorsey, Nate Mason and Dupree McBrayer for the remainder of the basketball season.

Pitino, citing student privacy laws, declined to say whether the three suspensions were because of the posting of sex videos on Dorsey's social media pages on Friday. The coach said he spoke with interim athletic director Beth Goetz "over and over" about the subject, but was ultimately allowed to make the call.

"We had to make some difficult decisions," he said. "But after a couple of days of long, hard thinking and talking everything over with my staff and with Beth, we took actions we felt were necessary."

One day earlier, on his weekly radio show on 1500-AM, Pitino said he "anticipated" the three guards, who first sat out Sunday's game at Illinois, would return for Wednesday's home game against Wisconsin. Later on Monday night, senior associate athletic director Chris Werle clarified that no decision had been made.

"I probably wasn't prepared to give an answer," Pitino said Tuesday of his initial radio comments. "I answered that the wrong way. I just wasn't sure how to answer it and I answered it the wrong way. Nothing really had changed, just more time passed and a lot of hard thinking and getting with our staff and everybody more than anything."

Pitino said he is "not aware" of any pending criminal investigations.

Sources told the Star Tribune and Associated Press on Monday that the players were not under criminal investigation. Asked whether he believed the incident could lead to extended punishments continuing into next season or transfers by any of the three players, Pitino said he did not want to speculate.

Mason, a sophomore, and Dorsey and McBrayer, both freshmen, still will be allowed to participate in practice and other team activities this season, Pitino said, and sit on the bench at games. "Being a great teammate doesn't change," he added.

The three suspensions are the latest in a string of player-related troubles since Pitino took over in April 2013. Most recently, senior Carlos Morris was dismissed for "conduct detrimental to the team" earlier this month.

Last season, Pitino dismissed transfer Zach Lofton before the start of the season for "failing to meet the expectations and obligations of the team." A month later, Daquein McNeil was arrested for allegedly committing two counts of felony assault. Dorsey was also suspended for one exhibition game in November for "failing to meet his academic obligations as a student-athlete."

Pitino said he isn't planning any specific changes to his recruiting process in light of the troubles, but he added the staff is "always trying to improve" in that regard. He also said the program is "always educating" incoming players on appropriate conduct, often discussing other player suspensions and incidents from other schools as warnings.

"I'd be lying to say I don't care what people think," Pitino added. "You always would like people to think you're about the right things and about the right reasons. … It's always difficult when you have to make these decisions. At the end of the day, I'm responsible for everybody I brought here."

The Gophers have two games remaining in the regular season before traveling to Indianapolis for the Big Ten tournament next week. Minnesota will hold a "senior night" celebration for sole senior Joey King before Wednesday's game against Wisconsin before rounding out the league schedule at Rutgers. The Gophers have only six scholarship players remaining on the active roster.

"It's obviously a little frustrating, but what it comes down to is we hold ourselves to a high standard," King said. "Mistakes happen and you've got to deal with the consequences. Coach made his decision and that's final and that's how we're going to move forward."