MU made itself quite a mess with Clemons

Should we believe Jessica Bunge, the disgruntled ex-Missouri student who is trying to sink Quin Snyder's basketball program by ratting out Ricky Clemons?

I do.

Her story explains Missouri's kid-glove handling of Clemons ever since the former Mizzou guard was charged with choking Bunge. I tried giving Missouri the benefit of the doubt. I tried telling myself that Snyder didn't want to give up on a troubled kid he had recruited.

That doesn't make sense anymore. The Missouri athletic program has bent too far backward for Ricky Clemons. He was hit with just a one-game suspension when the assault allegations first surfaced. His undisciplined, destructive late-season play was too easily tolerated.

When he finally pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in the Bunge case, Snyder announced Clemons would keep his scholarship and sit out one season of play. After Clemons embarrassed the school's president by wrecking an ATV at a holiday party -- when he should have been safely behind bars -- the Mizzou coaching staff promised Clemons they'd help him find a place to play basketball.

Ricky Clemons has been coddled. I can't say that I really fault Snyder for coddling Clemons. No one I know has a harder-luck story than Ricky Clemons. To know Ricky is to empathize with him. He's been homeless, mentorless and directionless for too much of his life.

Unfortunately, the kind of coddling Bunge alleges is against NCAA rules.

The score is 1-1 so far

What's good for Mizzou supporters is that so far it's Bunge's word against Snyder's. The NCAA doesn't convict on he-said, she-said -- no matter how "unconscious" Snyder was when he allegedly gave Clemons flip-flops, sweat pants and a pair of shoes.

What's not good for Mizzou supporters is that Snyder and his athletic director, Mike Alden, have retired to opposing boxing-ring corners. Alden and Snyder -- the two most coddled members of Missouri's athletic department now that Clemons has been booted -- are not getting along right now. As of Tuesday, they hadn't sat down face to face and discussed a game plan for dealing with or investigating Bunge's allegations.

They're not on the same page. Alden feels embarrassed, and Snyder feels betrayed.

Bottom line: They're both ultimately responsible for the damage Clemons has done to the image of Mizzou's athletic department. And Clemons has done a lot of damage. Can you say the Missouri Bearcats coached by Quin Huggins?

Given all we know about Clemons now, given all that Missouri should have known about Clemons before offering him a scholarship, there's no way Snyder should have asked Alden to approve a scholarship for Clemons, and there's no way Alden should have approved it. Alden and Snyder, twin personalities, can't get away with saying they didn't know Clemons' history or remarkable junior-college academic transcript. They wanted an upgraded replacement for Wesley Stokes more than they wanted to protect the integrity of the institution that employs them.

Happens all the time, especially when a coach and AD believe they're on the cusp of a Final Four appearance and they want to justify the lavish pay raises they talked their bosses into.

With one shortsighted decision at a time, Snyder and Alden have earned the mess that Bunge's allegations are creating.

It's fair to question her motives. She certainly seems angry. The University of Missouri did more to protect Clemons, including providing him the counsel of one of its top attorneys, than it did Bunge, the victim of Clemons' assault. It's just a guess, but I doubt that Bunge ever celebrated the holidays riding shotgun on the president's ATV.

The gist of Bunge's story adds up. Missouri pampered Ricky Clemons. It's not hard to believe that the pampering went beyond NCAA rules.

Jason Whitlock is a sports columnist for The Kansas City Star.