Last season, the UW men’s basketball team finished next-to-last in the Big Ten in steals, averaging 4.94 per game.

The good news? The ‘09-‘10 season hasn’t even started, and the Badgers are already leading the league in thefts.

The bad news? They’re not the kind that lead to fast breaks.

By now you’ve probably heard about Diamond Taylor and Jeremy Glover – both freshmen on the UW basketball team – and their alleged iPod/cash-stealing spree.

Now, I tend to default to giving freshmen who make dumb drunken decisions that don’t harm anyone a second chance, mostly because not too long ago I was a freshman who made dumb drunken decisions. Most people are or were.

But this wasn’t just an isolated incident. According to what Jeff Portrykus reported over the weekend, the UW Police Department claims Taylor and Glover stole “several iPods, a cell phone and at least $400 in cash from several dorm rooms.” They also could be suspects in several other reported robberies.

First of all, that’s just a dick move. You don’t just walk into someone else’s room and take their stuff. It’s selfish and shows a total disregard for others’ property.

They’ll likely be kicked out of the dorms, and rightfully so. You can’t have repeat offense thieves living in a communal setting with several hundred others. But the question then is, what action will Bo Ryan take?

We already know Bo doesn’t have much tolerance for players running afoul of the law. He demonstrated this by banishing forward Kevin Gullikson to the end of the bench after the then-junior picked up his third underage drinking citation. After averaging 7.5 minutes per game during the non-conference schedule and first two games of Big Ten play, Gullikson played a total of two minutes the rest of the season. And that was for an offense that, in comparison to these charges, was fairly insignificant.

Bo and the UW coaches could eliminate the issue by cutting both players. That’s a very possible, maybe even probable, course of action. It would leave a hole to be filled at the guard spot a couple years down the line, but don’t think that will factor into the final decision.

From what Rob Schultz reported in today’s State Journal, the UW coaching staff was blindsided by this. Both Taylor and Glover were “good character” guys. If, somehow, the UW program feels they can turn their behavior around and deserve a second chance, there’s also a more unconventional option.

With several seasoned guards ahead of them, both players were probably going to redshirt this year. Simply holding them out of competition wouldn’t be much punishment. But if Taylor and Glover somehow earn reinstatement, Ryan could discipline them this way: Sub them in for the final few seconds of an early-season blowout, then sit them the rest of the year.

The players would stay in the program, where the structure of practice and study tables would keep them focused. It would also be a harsh punishment; by playing just the final seconds of a blowout, both players would lose a year of eligibility.

The legal system will run its course and the coaching staff will eventually have a decision to make, but for now it’s an unfortunate start to the season for the Badgers.