Former NBA great “Sir Charles” Barkley came under fire several years ago for stating, “I don’t believe professional athletes should be role models. I believe parents should be role models.”

Despite Barkley’s statement, athletes who play on any stage are role models. Just glancing at the wide-eyed youngsters standing on the sidelines of any Cyclone basketball game, it’s apparent athletes are role models children strive to be like, much more so than their own teachers, friends and even their parents.

Jackson Vroman and other members of the ISU men’s basketball team recognize the fact children idolize them. They also recognize the reality that children often try to emulate them. “During the upcoming season, I will be going around to area high schools and telling them about the dangers of drugs and alcohol,” Vroman told the Daily in the Oct. 9 article, “Repentant Vroman prepared to return to the court.”

“In talking with the coaches, we felt it was a good thing to do,” he said of his work with teens.

Vroman’s apparent dedication to speaking with high school youth about the dangers of drugs and alcohol makes his recent tangles with the law more disappointing.

Vroman, a senior forward on the ISU men’s basketball team, was arrested in west Ames early Thursday morning and charged with drunken driving. He was already suspended from the team because of a May 24 incident in Spirit Lake where he was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Vroman is suspended indefinitely from the Cyclone team until the charges are resolved, said ISU head coach Wayne Morgan. “I can’t fully express my disappointment in Jackson,” Morgan said in a statement Thursday. “Jackson has let down his teammates and supporters of our basketball program. He has jeopardized his future at Iowa State.”

Few basketball names across the state are more recognizable to young fans than that of Vroman’s. His behavior is a direct reflection on the ISU men’s basketball team as a whole, and this kind of irresponsible, criminal activity gives kids the impression that drinking is the “cool” thing to do if they want to be a successful athlete.

It is now time for head coach Wayne Morgan to make it clear this kind of behavior is unacceptable.

His actions in response to Vroman’s arrest — suspending him indefinitely and calling the behavior “disappointing” — are a positive start, but may not be enough, considering numerous other basketball players have been charged with drug and alcohol-related incidents in recent months.

Perhaps removing Vroman permanently from the team is the only way to make a strong statement to other members of the basketball team and to children across the state who strive to be just like him.