Wake Forest today suspended star guard Chris Paul for one game for his low blow to NC State’s Julius Hodge in Sunday’s game.

I have spent so much time in recent months being humiliated by the appalling lack of leadership and values at the University of Colorado, where I earned my doctorate. So it is with almost immeasurable pride that I applaud Wake Forest, my alma mater, for by god doing the right thing in response to unacceptable behavior by a star athlete. Look, I think Chris Paul is the best PG in the country and I’ve been impressed, up until the last couple of weeks, with the character he has displayed. He struck me not just as a great player, but as a pretty fine human being, too.

But we saw him lose his head when Duke thugged him up a couple weeks back (by the way, Wake is behaving with a lot more class today than Duke did in that game, and the whole Duke community ought to be embarrassed to see its HoF coach resorting to tactics that I’d think would be beneath even a Jerry Tarkanian). Then last night Paul landed a solid cheap shot to Hodge’s nards, and I’m starting to wonder why all of a sudden CP3 seems to be getting in touch with his inner punk.

I said in an e-mail to sirpaulsbuddy this morning that if I were Skip Prosser, I’d sit Paul down whether the league acted or not, and I’m proud as hell of my school and its coach for making clear that there are behaviors that aren’t acceptable from somebody honored to represent Wake Forest University. I hope Paul’s apology in the release is sincere and that when he steps on the floor next he does so as somebody who has learned a valuable lesson.

Meanwhile, here’s hoping that Paul’s action haven’t lead his team to an early exit in the tournament.