With Alabama’s first preseason practice in the books, it's time for a new edition of the 3-2-1: Where we offer three things we've learned, two questions we're asking and one prediction.
Three things we've learned
1. Da’Shawn Hand will not be suspended
If everything goes to plan, Alabama will not be without star senior defensive end Da’Shawn Hand during its season opener against Florida State on Sept. 2. Hand was arrested for DUI at 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning when a police officer found him asleep in a parked car at the 1100 block of University Blvd near campus.
While Alabama head coach Nick Saban stated he was disappointed in Hand for putting himself in such a situation, he commended the defensive lineman for not driving and putting others in danger. Due to this, the head coach opted to discipline Hand by putting him in 48-hour in-patient treatment while also assigning him community service and a police ride around.
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“I have two choices,” Saban said. “I can punish the guy for putting himself in a bad situation, aight, but making a pretty good decision after he put himself in that situation. Or we can take the situation that he put himself in, which is drinking, aight, and have him assessed for that and try to help him so he can make better choices and decisions in the future.”
While Saban’s decision not to suspend Hand doesn’t come as much of a surprise, the head coach’s willingness to open up on the matter is a break from the norm. Saban typically keeps disciplinary decisions close to the vest but was willing to discuss his rationale at length on Thursday.
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“I think what we're doing is helping the player. If he'd have driven the car, it would be a totally different circumstance. Even if he didn't get arrested. He put himself in that situation at 4:30 in the morning being in that condition, we would have sent him to do the same thing for his future safety and his future decision making.”
Hand’s arrest comes as a blow to the team’s hyper-focused approach this offseason. In response, Saban said he gathered his team and told them to use the situation as a reminder what can happen if a player puts himself in a bad situation.
