Mormon University player off team for premarital sex !

The Associated Press

Date: Fri. Mar. 4 2011 8:46 PM ET

SALT LAKE CITY — A star basketball player for Brigham Young University was kicked off the team for violating the Mormon school's honour code.

The school does not release details of such violations, but The Salt Lake Tribune has reported that the player, Brandon Davies, violated the part of the code forbidding premarital sex.

The school's honour code requires students to be honest, live a chaste and virtuous life, use clean language, abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee and illegal substances, and attend church regularly.

On Thursday, university officials defended the code.

"We live this. This is who we are," BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe said. "Most people who come to this school -- hopefully all -- understand this is one of the reasons they come to BYU.

"We understand that people across the country might think this is foreign to them and they're shocked and surprised. But for us, we deal with this quite often. Obviously this situation, because of the timing and our team, brings a lot of attention. But we've handled everything exactly the same way we would have if there was no media."

Davies, by violating the code, cannot represent the school or play on the team, but he is allowed to be with his teammates on campus and watch practices. Davies apologized to his teammates for letting them down, and players said they would continue to support him.

An honour code review committee will decide whether Davies will be allowed to remain at BYU. University spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said there is no set time period for a decision.
"There are no secrets here as to the environment that exists at BYU," she said. "But it's an environment our students choose. It's an environment they want to live in. And that is very much true for our student-athletes as well."