By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Guidugli

MEMPHIS - Gino Guidugli can leave Schneider Hall to go to class, to practice or to eat. Other than that, the University of Cincinnati's junior quarterback, who this week was named to Conference USA's preseason all-conference first team, is confined to his dormitory room.

Guidugli is serving 60 days of house arrest after being convicted of misdemeanor assault for hitting an opponent during an intramural basketball game at UC's Armory Fieldhouse last February. The sentence, imposed by Hamilton County Municipal Judge David Stockdale, began June 27 and runs through Aug. 25.

"I've got a schedule I've got to abide by," Guidugli said Tuesday during the conference football media day, which he was allowed to attend because it's part of his school responsibilities. "Anytime I don't have something scheduled, I've got to be in my room. I've got to be within 50 feet of the little box they've got hooked to my phone."

The box is a sensor that can electronically monitor whether Guidugli is in his room when he's supposed to be. He also wears a sensor around his ankle.

"It definitely cramps your lifestyle," Guidugli said, "but I guess that's what it's meant to do."

Guidugli, a 20-year-old graduate of Highlands High School, said he was surprised by the severity of the sentence.

"But I guess if you do the crime, you've got to do the time," he said. "He decided to give me what he wanted to give me. I'm just going to fulfill my sentence, do what I need to do, get off it and put it behind me."

Guidugli says he was defending himself and his teammates when he threw the punch during the intramural game.

"I've learned that you have to think before you act," Guidugli said. "I got myself into a situation I didn't need to be a part of. Now I'm paying for it. All those things I had to go through weren't worth it. It was just a basketball game."

According to Guidugli, his team was down by a point late in the game when, in an attempt to get the ball back, one of his teammates fouled a player from the opposing team who was attempting to make a layup. The opposing player objected to the nature of the foul and grabbed Guidugli's teammate by the jersey under his neck.

Both benches cleared and a scuffle broke out.

"I go home to Fort Thomas," Guidugli said. "I come back to the dorm, and Coach Minter says the police need to talk to you at the (campus) police station. So, I voluntarily walk up there, and they sent me downtown and locked me up in jail for 20 hours, with no pillow, no nothing. It makes you grow up."

UC coach Rick Minter calls the incident regrettable, but said it could ultimately be beneficial if it shows other college athletes - including Guidugli's teammates - how important it is for them to stay out of compromising situations.

"Did the punishment fit the crime?" Minter asked. "That's for people to debate, but you learn, you live and move on.

"Celebrity athletes have to understand how fragile they are, that they are targets, that they are not treated the same, both pro and con. I do think he's gotten heavily penalized for what he's done. He's not getting out of anything. If he can learn something and if anybody else can learn something, then maybe other guys will wake up and say this is a thin line we walk around here."

Guidugli spends his days attending class, breaking down film, watching television, playing PlayStation and talking on the phone. Occasionally, he gets visits from friends.

But most of his days are very confined and very routine.

"It actually seems like time is going fast," he said. "I try to stay busy all day long. I'll go to class, go lift, work out with my dad, break down some film, go back to the room and relax and get ready to do it all again the next day.

"It's kind of forced me to focus more on football, get my priorities in order."

In the meantime, Guidugli is counting the days until practice starts Aug. 6.

"Gino is just a normal Northern Kentucky, country-talking kid," Minter said. "He gets celebrity status because he chose to stay home and because he's a playmaker, a producer. He really wants to be a normal guy, but he has to understand he can't be a normal guy."

Guidugli has heard that before, but now he has painful knowledge to hammer the message home.

"It makes you grow up kind of quick," he said. "You can't just be a normal kid in college. It's kind of hard, but it's the facts of life. You either adjust or get out. I've learned."

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com