The recent news that Eastern basketball recruit Shaun Pratl was found not guilty of assault charges is certainly good to hear for fans of Panther basketball.

Pratl was a standout at Richards High School, and helped them win a state championship in 2008.

The battery charges brought against him by a female Mother McAuley student were cleared by a Cook County judge on May 11.

Though he was acquitted of all charges, one fact of the case has been largely overlooked; the alleged assault took place at an underage drinking party.

Now before anyone’s blood begins to boil at that statement, I assure you- I’m not about to get on a high horse and preach about the law, underage drinking being wrong or immoral, or that there should be consequences for Pratl’s attendance at that party.

My point is simply that high schools these days make such a huge deal about drinking, and athletes simply being around the activity, that I am shocked there was not more in the news about this.

There is no proof that Pratl was even drinking, however most high schools enforce codes of conduct that state athletes are not even allowed to be at a location where underage drinking is taking place.

Given the circumstances of these codes of conduct, as well as his impeding scholarship opportunities at Eastern, one has to question why Pratl put himself in this position in the first place by attending the party.

Star athletes are often in the spotlight, and minor things like playing a game of beer pong can suddenly become a huge ordeal if the wrong people find out about it. The whole world found out Michael Phelps smokes marijuana because he smoked a bong in a public place, a party on a college campus.

I was a two-sport athlete in high school. I know underage athletes go to parties. I know underage athletes, like non-athletic high school kids, sometimes indulge in alcohol. It’s part of growing up.

But for someone with so much going for him, perhaps Pratl could have avoided his entire legal battle by choosing better surroundings.

Jeff Jurinek can be reached at 581-7943 or at densportsdesk@gmail.com.