These college kids (and yeah, they're kids) get put up on this pedestal like they're the messiah or something. They are just kids trying to get an education and better their lives.
They get way too much attention and media hype, just because they can play ball and we are so obsessed by their talent. We and they lose sight of what they truly are...kids, out on their own for the first time.
The truth is, there were probably dozens of other swinging dicks that got popped for DUI around the same time this kid was. But they didn't get no media recognition.