The Longwood Lancers shocked the Big South Conference by being the first No. 9 seed to earn a spot in the tournament semi-final round, but members of the Longwood community were stunned by the Athletics Department’s decision to play junior forward Jason Pimentel.
Pimentel is currently in the appeal process after a Feb. 2 guilty charge for sexual battery, a Class 1 misdemeanor offense in Virginia. His case goes before the Prince Edward County Circuit Court on April 21.
A transfer from Palm Beach Community College that played for Old Dominion University in 2011-12, Pimentel was arrested on Nov. 5. The following day he received a team-issued indefinite suspension for “a violation of team policies.”
The suspension lasted 25 games, until Feb. 14 when a press release from the Athletics Department announced his reinstatement immediately before a home game against conference opponent Charleston Southern.
Since his reinstatement to the basketball team, current students and alumni took to social media to voice their outrage. On posts related to the men’s basketball team on The Rotunda, Longwood University, Longwood Athletics and the Longwood Lancers’ Facebook pages, there were comments of disgust and embarrassment, ranging from demands to fire head men’s basketball coach Jayson Gee to criticisms of President Taylor Reveley’s leadership. Similarly, other commenters called for support of both Pimentel and the men’s team until the appeal is heard.
Shorty after the Lancers defeated No. 1 seed Charleston Southern in the tournament last Friday, a photo with a quote from Gee’s postgame press conference was posted to the Longwood Lancers Facebook page. A commenter stated, “There is a new Longwood in town, and one I don’t recognize, one that’s okay with saying sexual crimes don’t matter.” The entire post was deleted from the Facebook page later that day.
Junior Travis Poole agrees with that sentiment, “I think it’s a messed up situation…it’s a little hypocritical someone who was charged and found guilty of sexual battery to play for us. I think if he wasn’t an athlete—a basketball player, he would not be here. He would’ve been expelled.”
WAVY-TV sports reporter and anchor, Nathan Epstein, a 2011 Longwood graduate, went on-air Sunday, Feb. 22 to voice his opinion on Longwood Athletics’ decision, “Whether or not there are facts that can change the outcome, there was only one right way the Athletics Department could’ve handled that situation, and as a proud alumni I can say, with fact, they got it wrong.”
Although there are those outraged, not all from the Longwood community are upset with Pimentel’s reinstatement. In an informal survey connected to a The Rotunda article regarding the decision, 66 people said they felt Pimentel should not be allowed to play, with 12 people who supported the Athletics Department’s decision.
Longwood sophomore Daniel Janousek, a self-proclaimed friend of Pimentel, believes he sat out longer than he should have.
“I think regarding what they came to in court, there’s no problem with him playing now; if anything it should’ve been a lot sooner,” Janousek said. “It was a lot of this time where things were getting pushed back, and it was not being addressed with, while (Pimentel) was being forthright. If anything he should’ve been playing the whole year, and now he only has one season left.”
A private Facebook page was created and circulated among students and alumni to schedule formal protests of Pimentel’s reinstatement. This resulted in a small number of students attending the last two men’s basketball home games on Feb. 23 and Feb. 28 with messages on loose-leaf paper. Combined, the original signs read ‘Pigs - Don’t Play - Basketball.’ But, according to one protester, Natalie Morison-Uzzle, a student grabbed and balled up the ‘Pigs’ sign. The group then created a new message, ‘Sex Offender - Don’t Play - Basketball.”
Janousek, the kicker for the Longwood Club Football team, attended both games and stated the protest against Pimentel was done in poor taste.
“They held up notebook paper signs, I couldn’t really read what they said. No one could even see them, when I talked to Jason (Pimentel) about it he didn’t even know the signs were there,” said Janousek. “It definitely seemed it was an isolated incident that didn’t have the student support…it was just these (three) individuals.”
According to Morison-Uzzle, a junior, the protest had support from many students and alumni, but due to the quick turnaround of the reinstatement and the men’s team’s last two home games, they were unable to coordinate a larger crowd.
Pimentel played in each of the team’s remaining eight games after returning to the team on Feb. 14, including all three Big South Conference tournament games. He averaged just under 20 minutes, 4.6 points and 4.4 rebounds-per-game in that time.
