After the fallout that has taken place at Binghamton over the past week with six men's basketball players being kicked off the team, you almost expected what happened Wednesday to occur.

Athletic Director Joel Thirer resigned on Wednesday.

This all started a week ago, when former Troy High star Emanuel 'Tiki' Mayben was arrested in his hometown on drug charges.

Five more players were then kicked off of the team two days later.

"I am very proud of my 21 years of service to Binghamton University at the opportunities that I've had to provide leadership for intercollegiate athletics and the other programs under my charge," said Thirer in a statement.

Thirer said he'll remain a tenured professor, but Jim Norris, an associate athletic director, will take over as interim athletic director.

Also in that statement, Binghamton President Lois DeFleur said she has directed men's basketball coach Kevin Broadus to provide her with a recruitment and supervision plan for the basketball team.

She added that an external consultant will audit the athletic program to make sure it complies with America East and NCAA policies and procedures.

You have to wonder if winning the school's first America East basketball tournament and advancing to the NCAA Tournament was worth all of this.

According to the Press & Sun Bulletin, Binghamton University has released five more student-athletes from the basketball team in the wake of Troy native Emanuel 'Tiki' Mayben being arrested on Wednesday.

D.J. Rivera, Malik Alvin, Corey Chandler, Paul Crosby and David Fine have all be released from their athletic scholarships by the university.

Rivera was a second team all-conference selection along with Mayben.

This is a huge shakeup to a team that won the America East Conference Tournament last year and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s important that everyone who is playing for Binghamton University and for me to be on the same page as to what kind of commitment we expect of our student-athletes, both on and off the court,” Binghamton Bearcats Basketball Coach Kevin Broadus said. “There’s only one captain steering this ship, and that’s me. If any of the young men in our program don’t respect the decisions that have been made or the rules we have in place, then they need to move on with their lives."

Broadus received a contract extension through the 2013-14 season back in June and after a lot of turmoil surrounding the program, I wouldn't be surprised if something came down on him.

Here's the link to the Press & Sun story.

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20090925/NEWS01/90925035/Huge-shakeup-at-BU--Five-players-released-from-basketball-team&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

It didn't take long for action to come from Binghamton University against former Troy High star Emanuel 'Tiki' Mayben.

This afternoon, the university came down on Mayben saying that their senior point guard was dismissed from the team because of his arrest Wednesday night.

Mayben faces felonies for selling and possession of cocaine and was arraigned Thursday morning in Troy City Court.

In a statement, Binghamton President Lois DeFluer said...

“I am reiterating to our Athletic Director Joel Thirer and (Basketball) Coach Kevin Broadus that we will not tolerate this behavior in our student athletes. This behavior does not reflect the quality of our program and the hundreds of student athletes at Binghamton University. We appreciate that Coach Broadus has given second-chances to athletes but our program can not take these risks and I have made this clear to both Thirer and Broadus.”

Thirer made it quite clear that Mayben was no longer a member of the basketball team.

“Emanuel Mayben has been permanently dismissed from the men’s basketball program. His arrest is both shocking and disappointing," Thirer said. "Our University and department will not tolerate this type of behavior. It’s a privilege to be a student-athlete and represent this University and we will not allow that privilege to be abused. Our coaches need to recruit student-athletes who value the opportunity that’s being given to them and I have communicated that directive to Coach Broadus loud and clear.”

The Press & Sun Bulletin is also reporting that Mayben had been cited for marijuana on Sept. 13 by a state university police office.

The Troy Police Department sent out a release saying that as a part of an IMPACT Detail investigation they came across Emanuel 'Tiki' Mayben.

The police had a two count indictment against Mayben, 22, for the Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd degree as a result of a three month investigation by the Special Operations Unit.

The police went to arrest Mayben this evening and he was found to be in possession of 3.4 grams of an off white powder that field tested positive for cocaine and he was also charged with CPCS 3 and CPCS 5th Degree, both felonies.

Mayben, a former Troy High standout, seemed to have restored his basketball and academic career after playing one season at Hudson Valley Community College and competing last year at SUNY Binghamton.

Mayben was a America East second team selection for the Bearcats, who won the America East Conference Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

The University at Albany is banged up and has lost two straight, but they hit the road again tonight against Binghamton in a game that can be seen on MSG+.

The Bearcats are rolling as of late and most of it has to do with Troy native Emmanuel 'Tiki' Mayben.

Mayben led Binghamton back from 25 points down in the second half at Vermont and then hit a game-winning shot against Stony Brook on Saturday.

Here's a story on Mayben from today's Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin.

Binghamton is tied for second place with Vermont at 8-3, one game behind Boston University for tops in the conference.

The Bearcats also have D.J. Rivera, a Saint Joseph's transfer, who is averaging a league-best 20.4 points per game. That total also puts him 23rd nationally.

The Great Danes have beaten all three teams ahead of them, but if they lose this game and split with all three teams, not only will their losing streak hit three games, but they will sink to 5-6 in the America East.

UAlbany is hobbled with Will Harris dealing with tendinitis in his knee, something coach Will Brown said would keep him out of practice on Friday, the day before the Vermont game and Anthony Raffa is still dealing with a sore toe.

Raffa and sophomore Tim Ambrose combined for 41 points in the first meeting and Harris added 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Also, Mayben had probably his worst game of the season, one point on 0-for-7 shooting.

Everyone will need to come to play tonight if the Great Danes are going to turn things around.

Prediction: Binghamton 72, UAlbany 66 (If you recognize the score, it's because it's the same one UAlbany won by back in January. My record is 16-7)

ALBANY - While the University at Albany players agreed on Tuesday that it was a little early to be talking about first place, that's exactly where the Great Danes would sit in the America East if they can knock of Binghamton on Wednesday.

"I think we have enough talent to win an America East Conference Tournament," UAlbany coach Will Brown said Tuesday. "I'm still learning about this team and I want to see if have what to takes to win an America East regular season (title), if we can do over it 16 games and maintain our focus."

The Great Danes (2-1, 10-6) take on a Bearcats (3-0, 10-5) team that has won six of their last seven and seems to be coming together at the right time.

"We knew from the beginning that this team had a lot of talent," said senior co-captain Brian Connelly of Binghamton.

While Brown says he doesn't consider this a rivalry (see below), this has become a heated series.

In last year's game in Vestal, the postgame handshake turned into an all-out shoving match that led to both Binghamton coach Kevin Broadus and UAlbany assistant coach Chad O'Donnell being suspended for one game apiece.

"What happened, happed," Connelly said. "It's two totally different teams pretty much and I think it's water under the bridge at this point."

While Binghamton has a local player in Troy's Tiki Mayben (who my story in Tuesday's print edition focused on), they are led by Saint Joseph's transfer, D.J. Rivera.

Rivera leads the conference with 21.3 points per game.

"He's always in attack mode," Brown said. "He scores in a variety of ways."

Brown stressed the importance of not getting caught up in Binghamton's style of play.

"I think the way they want to play is kind of like a pickup game almost, up and down the court, fastbreaking," Connelly said. "That's not our style of play. It never has been. We're more on the defensive end I would say and play more team basketball."

One of the major reasons UAlbany is playing for first place has been the play of Will Harris.

The 6-foot-6 junior transfer is averaging 17 points and 9.7 rebounds in America East play (see below for more on that).

"I want us to have a good season and tournament, so we can do some good things," Harris said.
Brown said he talked to his team about breaking the conference schedule into four parts, the first of which could end tonight with UAlbany in first place.

"I think our guys are feeling pretty good right now an they're anxious to play tomorrow night," Brown said.

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Here's what Brown had to say about this not really being a rivalry.

"I don't think so," Brown said. "I think rivalries are either what you have with Albany and Siena as far as a local rivalry, where everybody's involved from alumni to students to administration or in your league, a rivalry is a team you've played meaningful games against, so for me I look at Vermont because we've played meaningful games against them that had championship implications and to a lesser extent B.U. (Boston)."

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Harris said his streak of two conference double-doubles shouldn't have ended Sunday in Vermont.

"I feel like I had a double-double actually," said Harris about his 20-point, 9-rebound performance. "Coach (Pat) Filien told me I had six rebounds at halftime, so I had to have at least 10 or 11 rebounds, so somebody messed up on the stats and I kind of want to get that changed."

If anyone's listing in Burlington.

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As far an injuries go, Brown said that Harris practiced Monday and Tuesday, Connelly still hasn't practiced and Louis Barraza doesn't have a fracture in his heel or foot.

"I think everybody should be good to go," Brown said.

Prediction: UAlbany 74, Binghamton 70 (No pushing this time either. My record is 12-4. UAlbany is 5-0 at home. I'll take a loss for the Vermont game since I didn't have a selection)

(photo courtesy of SUNY Binghamton)

I had a chance to speak with Emmanuel 'Tiki' Mayben's coach Kevin Broadus today at America East Media Day in Albany.

He seems happy with how Tiki has come in to the program.

“I really, really appreciate that approach that he is taking because he didn’t have to take that approach” Broadus said. “His name alone goes across the country. He could have come in and been a selfish guy, but he’s not.”

Broadus said he first saw Mayben at an AAU tournament, back when Mayben was still at Troy High School.

Broadus says Mayben is doing well so far in the classroom and he has his priorities in line.

“He has to walk away from Binghamton with a degree,” Broadus said.

Tiki made a huge impact last season at Hudson Valley Community College, averaging 15.1 points, 9.5 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game, while the Vikings went 30-1.

The key for him will be staying focused.

You can read more about Mayben in Tuesday's paper, but I'll leave you with one more quote from Broadus.

“I love the Emmanuel that comes to practice smiling,” Broadus said. “That’s when I know he’s going to have a good day. That smile that he has is engaging.”