Arrest chastens Binghamton's Alvin

VESTAL, N.Y. - Whatever "dumb" thoughts Malik Alvin had walking into that Wal-Mart, he had no clue that he would soon be the butt of countless Internet jibes, that when he finally made it to Sports Illustrated, the magazine's Web site would honor him with its "Dumb Arrest of the Day."

This week, the Simon Gratz High School graduate will play in the NCAA tournament, starting at point guard when Binghamton University takes part for the first time ever in March Madness, facing Duke tomorrow in Greensboro, N.C.

Alvin, who led Gratz to the 2006 Public League title, is now best known for the circumstances of his arrest in October. He was charged with stealing a box of 36 Magnum condoms from a Wal-Mart near Binghamton's campus. Another misdemeanor offense, a third-degree assault charge, was added after police said Alvin knocked over a 66-year-old customer as he tried to run from security guards who had confronted him. (That charge was later dropped.)

Alvin isn't excusing himself. Dumb was the word he used. The 20-year-old just wasn't prepared for seeing himself every time he turned on his computer.

"I couldn't stop looking, because everywhere I went, it was being brought up," Alvin said.

That was especially the case after the news came out that Binghamton offered condoms to its students for free - not that Alvin was spending a lot of time reading the student handbook. Web sites dedicated to the foibles of athletes weren't going to avoid this one. The comments section at Deadspin.com had a field day: "He'll be ribbed about this for days. . . . Looks like Malik was burning rubber to get out of there. . . . If you can't get away from Wal-Mart security, maybe athletics just ain't your thing."

Alvin had experienced plenty of hard days growing up on Erie Avenue in North Philadelphia, he said. He's known hunger in his life, he said, and not having the money to get to school, how hopping a subway turnstile was the best option.

But this year?

"The hardest thing I've ever been through," Alvin said.

Alvin, who averaged 11.7 points a game, ranking second on the team to lifelong friend D.J. Rivera, knows that he's also been cited as an example of a chance Binghamton took in its rush to get to the big time in basketball. Binghamton is Alvin's third school since he left Gratz. He was at Texas-El Paso for a year, then Chipola College, a junior college in Florida.