By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

It was in April of 2017 that the father of Quintez Cephus was shot and killed.

Cephus, a Stratford grad, came home from Wisconsin, where his potential as a football player was growing and growing. Assistant coach Ted Gilmore came to Macon with him right after the murder, and for the funeral.

A year later to the month, something else happened in Cephus’s life. What, we don’t know yet, but it’s enough for Cephus to take a leave of absence, as one of the top receivers in the Big Ten.

Cephus tweeted Saturday night that he was leaving the Badgers indefinitely to deal with an undisclosed legal issue.

pic.twitter.com/2YglzG3k8b
— Quintez Cephus (@QoDeep_87) August 18, 2018

Head coach Paul Chryst talked with the media Saturday night, as scheduled before Cephus’s tweet but after the two had apparently talked about Cephus’s decision. He practiced on Friday, and the team was told on Saturday.

"Earlier today (I) met with Q and I know he was planning to release a statement, and at this time [I] really don't have anything more to add to that,”Chryst said, according to SI.com late Saturday (more to come Sunday). Chryst declined further comment.

Cephus’s tweet had 560 likes, 179 retweets and 50 responses by midnight Saturday. Reaction was mostly supportive, but more than a few people pointed it it’s unwise to take a shot at a district attorney’s office as playing favorites or the university for doing the same: “ “I realize that I don’t have the relationships and political pull that others may have here at the University or with the Dane County District Attorney’s office …”

The lack of specifics led to assorted media speculation in Wisconsin, inferring that Cephus’s wording may indicate some sort of sexual assault charge.

Reportedly, he would keep his scholarship and continue to participate in team activities while suspended and during an investigation.

Cephus is moderately active on Twitter, more retweeting and expressing emotions regarding his father’s death and the inspiration from his father, whom he called “BiggDogg”.

The only tweets from April that might inspire questions aren’t very different than what he offers regularly as far as support and inspiration.

Cephus was a major-college basketball prospect at Stratford, but his stock dropped a little bit because of his height. He had committed to Furman for basketball.

But his athleticism on the football field drew some attention, albeit not much. Wisconsin jumped into the picture and got him.

He has played in 23 games, with 34 catches for 595 yards and six touchdowns. Cephus has been drawing plenty of attention the past several months as a major weapon for the Badgers, who were in the college football playoff hunt last year, even with Cephus missing the final five games with a broken leg.

His rehabilitation was on schedule, and there were no indications he wouldn’t be starting when the Badgers opened with Western Kentucky on Aug. 31.

Andre Taylor was a long-time gang member, in the Westside Gangster Crips and known s “Gangster Dre”, as per a recent Macon Telegraph story, with a fairly lengthy arrest record, and his death was gang related.

Calvin Stapleton was convicted of Taylor’s murder, and convicted earlier this month, earning a sentence of life in prison with no parole. The jury needed barely half an hour to decide.

Cephus’s social media reaction in the the weeks and months following his father’s death were emotional – Cephus’s future appeared to be destined for a the copelte opposite of his father’s life, yet they were extremely close - and perhaps disconcerting to some in that Cephus didn’t seem to disparage the gang life in his postings.

Cephus, though, has been able to steer clear of such decisions, as an above-average student, well-liked teammate, and good representative of Stratford and Wisconsin.