I get it. This is a bad thing. OK. However, let's not get hysterical about how these guys' rights are being violated in some horrific way. The fact is that they are, by definition, not like regular students. Quick, what were the names of the two football players that were arrested for the attempted robbery? You don't know? That's because they were only identified as "two Tennessee football players". Some dude named Tyler Smith flashing a gun at a party would be barely worthy of a blurb in the "Police Reports" section of the campus newspaper. However, attach the words "star basketball player" to his name and it's national news. Student athletes agree when they sign on to play sports at the university to abide by several rules that may or may not apply to the general student population. That's because they represent the school, not just their own faces.
Case in point: last year BYU quarterback Max Hall called University of Utah fans "classless". Who cares? People are always trash-talking their rivals right? Except in this case we all know that's what he said because it made national headlines on Sports Illustrated and ESPN. He was then forced to issue your standard "I didn't mean to offend you when I called your sister a whore and said I hope your entire family rots in hell" apologies that public figures have memorized for such occasions. Fans were calling for him to be booted off the team. So were his rights violated?
The truth is that if you're going to play the game, you've gotta live by the rules. Whatever they may be.
