Opinion: Coyotes created another problem for themselves by drafting player who admitted to bullying Black classmate

Since late July, the Arizona Coyotes have had their general manager quit on the eve of the postseason, were tardy in paying players bonuses and per diem and lost their last two games by a combined score of 14-2. Their rent money at Gila River Arena is also late.

Despite failing at the portion of their jobs that involve hockey, the Coyotes have decided to diversify their services and provide counseling and other resources to those affected by bullying and racism.

By those affected, I mean the perpetrators, not the victims.

That’s the message the team sent earlier this month when it used its first draft pick, a fourth-rounder, on Mitchell Miller.

Miller, now 18 and a freshman at the University of North Dakota, admitted to bullying an African-American classmate with developmental disabilities four years ago, when both were students at the same junior high school in Sylvania, Ohio.

OPINION: Coyotes have no excuse for drafting a player who admitted to racial abuse

It was an ugly, horrifying incident. Miller and another boy tricked the victim into licking a candy push pop that Miller and his friend had wiped in a bathroom urinal. According to an account in the police report at the time, the boys also urinated on the candy and punched and pushed the victim, Isaiah Meyer-Crothers.

Miller and his friend were tapped on the wrists by a judge who sentenced them to 25 hours of community service and ordered them to write apologies to the victim.

Few of us would want to be defined by the worst decision we made at 14. Through contrition, maturity, and sometimes discipline via the justice system, people grow and change.

But after reading a story Monday by Arizona Republic reporters Craig Harris and Jose M. Romero, there is serious doubt about how regretful Miller is about bullying and assaulting Meyer-Crothers four years ago.

While the other boy cried when he apologized to the family in person, Miller never apologized in person, Isaiah's mother, Joni Meyer-Crothers said. The Coyotes provided The Republic with Miller’s letter of apology, but Joni Meyer-Crothers said the family never received it.

Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, who is Black, said Miller bullied him for years, including frequently calling him racial slurs.

“It was totally traumatizing for my kid,” Joni Meyer-Crothers told The Republic, “and he (Miller) has never shown remorse.”

The incident and subsequent court hearing were covered extensively by media in Ohio. So NHL teams knew about it well before the draft, and several didn’t have Mitchell on their draft boards because of it, according to reports.

In a statement to The Republic, Coyotes President and CEO Xavier Gutierrez said, “... it would have been easy for us to dismiss (Miller) — many teams did. Instead, we felt it was our responsibility to be a part of the solution in a real way — not just saying and doing the right things ourselves but ensuring that others are, too.

“Given our priorities on diversity and inclusion, we believe we are in the best position to guide Mitchell into becoming a leader for this cause and preventing bullying and racism now and in the future."

You know what else would have been easy for the Coyotes? To pick up the phone and call the Meyer-Crothers family and ask for its perspective on what Mitchell did in 2016 and the four years after.

They didn’t, said Joni Meyer-Crothers.

Gutierrez might be sincere in the Coyotes’ desire to “be a part of the solution.” But when sports executives and coaches start talking about addressing racism and bullying by drafting someone who has exhibited those very qualities, my inclination is to look for higher ground so my shoes don’t get ruined.

We all know what’s happening here.

Either Mitchell is so good at hockey that the Coyotes were willing take the risk, or, Mitchell is good at hockey and the Coyotes didn’t do enough homework on his past.

Either way, drafting him was a mistake, maybe one that wouldn’t have been made had new general manager Bill Armstrong been running the draft.

Miller's hockey career shouldn't end because he bullied another kid all through school. He should be able to continue to pursue his dreams, and, eventually prove that he’s sincerely remorseful and a good citizen.

Just let him do it elsewhere, instead of in the employment of team that needs to learn to pay its bills before taking on society’s ills.

Reach Kent Somers at Kent.Somers@gannett.com. Follow him on twitter @kentsomers. Hear Somers every Monday and Friday at 7:30 a.m. on The Drive with Jody Oehler on Fox Sports 910 AM.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Coyotes create another problem by drafting Mitchell Miller