Update on Juron Criner rumors of illness

Apparently rumors have been flying around regarding the Juron Criner situation.

The first two reports came from trusted journalists in Greg Hansen of the Arizona Daily Star and Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News, and while Hansen called it an "undisclosed medical reason," Wilner said it wasn't an injury at all, rather a "serious situation." It was both jarring and confusing, and if anything, it's more serious than a busted ACL. But at the time, it was unclear whether the situation was regarding Criner or a family member.

NBC newscaster Bruce Cooper, who in my opinion isn't some hack journalist, wrote on his AZCentral.com blog Thursday evening that all the cancer rumors are false but that Criner has a very ill family member.

 "I am not sure of the nature of the illness, only that it is serious."

Furthermore, Cooper says that Criner himself did indeed get hospitalized recently while going through a neurological test. Whether that has anything to do with this recent development is unclear.

"Could his erratic behavior been a result of the overwhelming news about his close family member?  Or could there be something deeper and more serious that caused him to require hospitalization and testing?  Fair questions, but the University of Arizona will keep the answers confidential.  And rightly so."

Whatever the case, the situation goes further than football, and that's evident by the Arizona Athletic department keeping quiet on the matter. As far as ethics go, the fact that Hansen reported the matter first six paragraphs into his Sunday article about commit Ka'Deem Carey shows that he too isn't trying to bring too much publicity to the matter.

If it's about Criner's personal life, it's not fair to make speculations about cancer or otherwise. But we'll keep you updated at what other quality media outlets report.