Say what you want about UC's stance on basketball recruit Robert Whaley. The school is inclined to give the kid his day in court, to face charges of aggravated battery. "We're going to see how this unfolds," Bearcats athletic director Bob Goin said Friday. "Let a judge who makes a living doing this decide."

Well, OK. Whaley was caught up in a mob. He's 6 feet 10 and well-known, at least in the part of Kansas where he plays junior-college ball. He could have been an easy target. Since the incident occurred in February and police didn't charge Whaley until last week, you could wonder what took so long.

OK and OK. But here's the part that gets me, every time:

"I'm a second-chance guy," said Goin. "If we can help someone become a better person, I'm going to do that."

It is truly amazing the number of Father Flanagans in college athletics. It is just so heartwarming. It's a wonder more ADs and coaches don't just up and join the Peace Corps. These guys aren't just capable jock trainers and department heads, they're saviors. Praise be.

I like Goin. I think he's done a great job at UC, and I think he's a very big reason Bob Huggins is still working there. I don't doubt Goin's desire to help athletes. But my goodness, just once couldn't we hear an athletic director and/or coach say this:

"Winning is good. We like to win. We like it a lot. We like the money we get when we win. We like the attention. We like Dick Vitale, who likes us when we're winning. Sometimes to win, we have to cut corners, make exceptions, cross our fingers and hope our guys don't burn their roommates with heated clothes hangers. Allegedly.

"To win, sometimes we bring in young men who are not planning careers in Boy Scout Management. Sometimes, they get in trouble. Don't we all?

"As a coach, winning is really all I'm here to do. I am not paid to mold future Supreme Court justices or chairmen of the church finance committee. No player comes to my campus seeking a bachelor of arts in Mother Teresa. I've been doing this a long time, and I can assure you I wouldn't be doing it much longer if I didn't win.

"Now, either we take this good-kid-who-was-just-in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time, and we deal with the fallout from the people-who-don't-know-our-players-or-our-program. Or we drop this kid and, probably, we don't win as many games. We like winning. Did we mention that?"

I've been doing this for 20 years, and honest to Naismith, I've never heard anyone say any of that. College basketball is a bottomless cesspool of hypocrisy. The hypocrites aren't confined to the gym and the corner office. They're in the stands. They're sitting behind laptop computers and anchor desks. We're all part of it. If Robert Whaley or anyone else with baggage, allegedly, comes to town and lights it up, we'll all be chirping his praises.

If Whaley is cleared, bring him on. Suit him up. Give him a second chance. Heck, if he's as good as they say, give him diplomatic immunity. Make him James Bond.

For once, though, come clean about it. Tell us you're helping him only because he can help you. If Robert Whaley were a 6-10 lion tamer, you wouldn't give him the time of day. Tell us that.

Whaley can help you win. You like winning. You like it a lot. You are in the winning business. Which, in this case, has little to do with social work.

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E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com