Han's Time is Done?

Monday is supposed to be D-Day on the future of Stags' point guard Jon Han, marking the end of one of the strangest subplots in recent memory. Today, Ben Doody of the Trentonian had a fantastic blog post on the strange ride that has been Han's collegiate career. Seems like an eternity ago that Cooley spoke so glowingly of Han after that American double-overtime game in Alumni Hall, his first game as a head coach.

That was also my first game as a beat writer for 'The Mirror', so that game holds a big soft spot in my heart.

A few thoughts:

• Originally, 'The Mirror' heard from a few anonymous sources that Han had decided to leave the team permanently following the shouting match with assistant coach Brian Blaney and the Manhattan game on Jan. 26. The sources also said that he was moving to Puerto Rico as soon as possible to pursue a career in the National Superior Basketball League.
  
• Those day after rumors made it seem as if Han was done. Perhaps these initial sources exaggerated the story, but, looking back, they may not be all too far from the truth. Keep in mind that Han has not been seen or heard from since that night. He most certainly has not been banging down Ed Cooley's door to get back on the team. Which is an intriguing question to ask: Does Han even care, at this point, about Fairfield basketball?
  
• Cooley, according to Chris Elsberry of the Connecticut Post, gave Han an ultimatum to sign one of two documents: one accepting a season-long suspension, or the other stating that he was choosing to leave the team for personal reasons. If this is true (which we should learn within the next 24 hours), then our initial suspicions from those rumors - which at the time seems ludicrous- were true: Han has played his last game as a Stag.
• How bizarre is it to think back to the Siena game? In case you forgot, Han received a commemorative 1000th point ball from Cooley at half-court just before the tip. A surreal scene, if you look at it now. That's probably as close as those two may ever come again.
• Lyndon Jordan put up 15 points (5-of-12 from the field) against Niagara on Sunday, a 75-50 loss in Buffalo. The more glaring stat: Fairfield turned the ball over 21 times (3 for Jordan, 5 for Sean Crawford, and 2 for Jamal Turner). Han may be Fairfield's answer to Tiki Barber/New York Giants circa 2007, a clubhouse lawyer whose abscence equals addition by subtraction. But keep in mind the G-Men had Brandon Jacobs and Derek Ward waiting in the wings. With guard depth an issue, his absence is certainly going to be felt over the next few weeks.