Hopefully Chris Singletary has learn his lesson.
Punching Akron's Nate Linhart in the chest just 1:08 into Sunday's regular-season finale at the M.A.C. Center cost him a chance to play in the rivalry game. He hurt himself, his coaches and his Kent State teammates.
Now Singletary will sit again, missing today's Mid-American Conference Tournament opener with Northern Illinois as part of a one-game suspension levied by his own team Monday afternoon.
Kent State made the right decision.
Because Singletary's punch was ruled on the court by lead official Terry Wymer as a flagrant foul and not a case of fighting, the Mid-American Conference chose not to suspend the Golden Flashes' junior.
But for the second time in a little more than a decade, Kent State decided to hold its program to a higher standard.
During the 1998 MAC Tournament, former Flashes star Kyrem Massey nearly took off the head of Akron's Jami Bosley with what KSU determined to be a flagrant elbow.
Then Flashes' head coach, Gary Waters, said at the time "either you are going to learn to play the game by the rules or you are not going to play at all." When the MAC decided not to take any action against Massey, claiming there was no clear intent, Waters and Kent State athletic director Laing Kennedy decided they still needed to suspend him. With one of their top players missing from the lineup, the Flashes ended up losing to Miami in the next round and missed a chance at playing for the MAC title.
But KSU did the right thing.
Kennedy and head coach Geno Ford are doing the right thing again this year, even if losing Singletary plays a part in Kent State making an early exit from the MAC Tournament.
Northern Illinois plays mostly zone defense, and Singletary is the one KSU player who can break down a zone when he gets the ball on the elbows.
None of that should matter, though.
In the 24 hours between Singletary's ejection and KSU's decision to suspend him, there was some debate in and around the university as to the severity of the blow, and whether or not that should play a part in a decision to take further action.
Some have suggested Linhart may have flopped a little.
None of that should matter, either.
From the baseline replay made available by Fox Sports Ohio, Singletary clearly punched Linhart.
Hard or not, it shouldn't be tolerated. The shocking image required a response.
In issuing the suspension, Kennedy and Ford are saying they expect better from their players.
Now it's up to Singletary to get the message.
After his ejection, Singletary claimed he just put his hand out as Linhart drove the baseline. He said he didn't mean to deliver a punch. A KSU source said Singletary often plays defense with his fists clenched. Video evidence of previous games seems to support that claim, but even if that is true, Singletary still has a lesson he needs to learn from this suspension.
Singletary has been a marked man for his entire career, partly because of his physical style of play and also because of some off-the-court mistakes. He rarely gets the benefit of the doubt on fouls that may have been whistled against him because of his reputation.
Now he should know why he has the reputation. If he meant to punch Linhart, he has earned the reputation because he plays the game outside of the rules. If you take him at his word, and he didn't intend to punch Linhart, which is difficult to believe based on the sideline replay, he will still be a lightning rod for officials' attention because of his own impulsiveness and careless style of play.
Fortunately, Singletary's teammates proved on Sunday they can win a big game without him.
David Carducci can be reached at dcarducci@recordpub.com