I had been tracking DMX since his recruitment. I was really happy when he chose the Hawks. Thus, I've been very supportive of him throughout his career. It's certainly possible that other issues weren't creeping up ... however, there appears to be enough "smoke" here for me to draw inferences to the contrary.
Does this mean that I won't wish him well in his future endeavors? Not at all. However, I remain curious to learn what the REAL story is behind his departure.
For example, do you remember Jacody Coleman? He left Iowa ... despite the coaches adoring him and despite him having a ton of close friends in the program. Although he had lost the starting spot to Pat in '08 ... there was talk of redshirting him in '09 so that we'd have him as an excellent starter in '10. All the same ... he left. Why? I know what the rumor mill was saying at the time ... and it had nothing to do with attitude issues or anything like that.
Why do I bring up Coleman? There are cases like his - where you clearly know that there aren't attitude issues and you know that he and the coaches are on the same page. However, all I can say is that Mitchell's situation doesn't match that sort of pattern. The most reasonable explanation that paints a more positive picture of Mitchell is if he really was too dinged to contribute at a high level ... throughout the entire season. However, through the season, when reporters asked about DMX ... the coaches didn't make it sound like there was a whole lot wrong with him.
