NCAA title hero under fire for scrambling to cover up controversial comments
No matter what happens to Villanova sophomore star Donte DiVincenzo for the rest of his basketball career, he’ll always be remembered for two things.
First and foremost, DiVincenzo scored a record 31 points off the bench in Villanova’s dominant 79-62 national championship win over Michigan.
It was a stellar shooting night for DiVincenzo, but even when he wasn’t scoring, the redshirt sophomore was active and aggressive on defense and kept Michigan on its toes. He wasn’t the only big contributor on his team, but he was certainly the main reason Villanova captured its second title in three years.
Second, DiVincenzo will always be known for some great nicknames, including “The Big Ragu” and “The Michael Jordan Of Delaware.”
But now, DiVincenzo may be known for a third thing.
The internet never forgets, and DiVincenzo’s championship celebration was marred by some online sleuths sifting through his social media activity. Two posts in particular caught the eye of intrepid investigators.
First, per TMZ, DiVincenzo deleted a tweet in which he had used the n-word.
“Ballin on these n—-s like I’m (former NBA MVP Derrick Rose),” DiVincenzo posted to Twitter in 2011. Despite him seemingly quoting a rap song, people were still upset about his use of the racial epithet.
In another instance, DiVincenzo used more online vulgarity while talking about his father, according to Larry Brown Sports.
“To my dad I’m a p—- now?” DiVincenzo directed at his father. “(Because) I don’t want to play f—ing soccer?”
In fairness to the DiVincenzo family, whatever issues father and son may have had over a potential soccer career seem to have been smoothed over. Both of his parents were seen in the crowd on Monday, cheering on their son.
Donte’s proud parents. pic.twitter.com/QaDmkMmmRB
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 3, 2018
So despite the thrilling championship win, DiVincenzo spent part of his post-game activities explaining his tweets.
“It’s my account, yes … but I never remember doing that,” DiVincenzo said when asked about the vulgar comments posted on his Twitter account.
More eyebrows were raised when Villanova reportedly released and retracted a statement claiming that DiVincenzo’s Twitter account had been hacked. Considering his comments were from 2011, it’s hardly a surprise Villanova went back on its claim.
In fairness to DiVincenzo, he was barely 14 or 15 years old when he posted some of his more graphic tweets. It’s also fair to wonder if any of this criticism directed at comments DiVincenzo made nearly seven years ago are valid today.
Yes, obviously DiVincenzo’s choice of language left a bit to be desired. But, and this can’t be stressed enough, DiVincenzo was literally a child when he made those comments.
Let him enjoy his national championship without having to defend something he tweeted in 2011.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
