Dorial Green-Beckham
In this Sept., 15 2012, file photo, Missouri wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham carries the ball during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Arizona State in Columbia, Mo. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson, File)
(L.G. Patterson)
Dorial Green-Beckham would be "unlikely" to be admitted to Oklahoma in the post-Ray Rice football world, Sooners athletic director Joe Castiglione told SI.com on Monday.
Green-Beckham was dismissed from Missouri this past spring after a series of legal run-ins, one of which involved his being accused of throwing his girlfriend's roommate down the stairs and dragging his girlfriend out of the apartment by her hair. Green-Beckham was never charged with a crime for the incident, possibly because his girlfriend refused to cooperate with police and allegedly encouraged her roommate not to press charges.
Green-Beckham, a wide receiver who was the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2012, enrolled at Oklahoma over the summer and is sitting out this season due to NCAA transfer rules. However, Castiglione told SI.com the school would be unlikely to take a chance on Green-Beckham given the political climate that has existed since the video of Rice punching his then-fiancee unconscious (resulting in his indefinite suspension from the NFL) was published last week.
"If someone presented a case like that now, I think you would be fair to say that he probably wouldn't be at Oklahoma," Castiglione said, "... Just because of the attention and the cases now in the public consciousness, the university would have been unlikely to take on a situation like that."
Castiglione pointed out that Green-Beckham's situation was different from Rice, in that Green-Beckham was never legally charged or arrested. He added that Green-Beckham had stayed out of trouble since his arrival in Norman.
"If we knew he had done something wrong," Castiglione said, "I can assure you he would not be here.
"Whatever he may or may not have done, he is trying to become a better person."
Two other Oklahoma players have been involved in legal incidents involving females. Linebacker Frank Shannon, the Sooners' top tackler in 2013, was suspended for the season by the university after a female student accused him of sexual assault through a Title IX complaint.
Freshman running back Joe Mixon, a five-star recruit in the Class of 2014, was also suspended for the season after being charged with misdemeanor assault when he punched a female student in the face at a campus area restaurant in July. Mixon's attorney has claimed the incident was self-defense.
However, Mixon was spotted at a team pep rally on Thursday night, after which head coach Bob Stoops told The Oklahoman "he shouldn't have been there."