Colts' Mayernik sees lessons in his suspension.

Byline: Commentary by Steve Mims The Register-Guard

JAY MAYERNIK'S BASKETBALL career is not over.

His prep days at Thurston High School are done after he was booted from the team for disciplinary reasons two weeks ago. Mayernik admits he made a mistake and has accepted his punishment.

One of the state's top seniors is now playing in a church league, but he will be back at a more competitive level next year. Mayernik signed a letter of intent to play at Southern Oregon University in Ashland on Wednesday.

"They were the first school to show interest, and it was the only school I visited," Mayernik said. "I thought it was a good fit for me. I was going to wait until the end of the season and take some other visits, but it didn't work out that way."

Instead, Mayernik played in three league games before being suspended for the rest of the season for breaking an undisclosed team rule.

Questions about what Mayernik did have generated plenty of gossip, but I don't want to get into that stuff here. A 17-year-old screwed up, and is serving his sentence. I don't really need, or want, to know much more than that.

My intent in contacting Mayernik for this column was to do a story about where he goes from here, and how he is dealing with the negative attention that has come his way. I am not trying to brand him as either a bad guy or a victim, neither of which is true, but rather as a kid who is trying to get past a mistake he made.

"It's been hard, I miss playing with the guys," Mayernik said. "I put a lot of time into the program, but I made a mistake and I had to pay."

Mayernik can still be seen at Thurston's games, but he now sits with his friends in the student section.

"The hardest part is on game nights, knowing that I can't go out and play," Mayernik said. "I want to support the team, I love those guys, I miss them, and I wish them the best."

Those strong feelings have made the situation even tougher for Mayernik.

"I let them down," Mayernik said. "I can't say 'I'm sorry' enough. More than letting them down, I let myself down."

Mayernik cost himself a number of opportunities.

The 6-foot-5 Mayernik was a lock to be a first-team all-league selection, and he was probably on his way to being the Midwestern League's most valuable player. He averaged 23.7 points in 10 games - including 53 in a win over Lebanon - to lead the league in scoring and rank fourth in the state.

Mayernik will not get the scoring title, or any all-league honors. The senior may have been on his way to some all-state honors too, but those are now gone.

In addition, Thurston was a strong contender for the league title and among the top 10 or 15 contenders for the state title. No matter what the Colts get, Mayernik will not be a part of it.

Mayernik also has lost some respect and a few friends along the way.

"It's a good time to find out who your true friends are," Mayernik said. "Most students have been great, they've been supportive. It's more the parents and stuff, and I understand where that comes from, but they don't know me."

Mayernik said Thurston coach Doug Piquette, who dismissed him from the team, has remained a friend.

"I talked to him and he is supportive of me," Mayernik said. "I still love him and he is a good friend. He will be one of the first people I go to when I need to talk to someone."

Jill Ford, Jay's mother, is also standing behind her son.

"He is still the same Jay, holding his head high in typical Jay Mayernik fashion, but you know that this has been extremely tough on the kid," she wrote in an e-mail to me this week. "Jay is rising above it all and trying to go forward."

Where Mayernik will go next is to Ashland, where he will play for SOU and coach Brian McDermott, who considers Mayernik one of the five best prep players in the state.

"They said they support me," Mayernik said. "I made a mistake, and it happens."

Mayernik said he is continuing to play basketball to keep in shape, and he plans to get a head start at SOU by arriving in time to attend school this summer.

He will take with him lessons he learned from the past few weeks.

"It's a maturity situation, I have to learn from what I did and move on," Mayernik said.

"I need to learn from what I did. It is getting better, the first days were really hard. I've learned from this, and I realize that for each mistake there are consequences. I have to be smarter about what I do, and make it a positive."

Mayernik made a mistake and it has cost him dearly.

But at age 17, Mayernik deserves a second chance, and he will now get the opportunity to show what he has taken from his current situation.

Steve Mims writes about prep sports for The Register-Guard. He can be reached at [e-mail].