There is more information about this situation in Jay Drew's blog. See "Background on dismissal of BYU player saga."
http://blogs.sltrib.com/recruiting/
On other sites and in the comments section after the initial article, people have suggested that the player, Kent Walton, must have done something else to warrant dismissal from BYU. Here's what the article says about that:
The Waltons reluctantly agreed to meet with me Friday night at Thanksgiving Point. I looked Kent Walton in the eye probably three or four times during the course of our hourlong meeting and asked him again and again: "Are you sure there is nothing more you have said or done -- or not done -- that could have caused you to be dismissed from BYU?"
He answered yes each time.
I called his roommate and teammate, Jake Wortham, and got the same response.
Also, I spoke off the record with several sources affiliated with BYU's athletic department who obviously have to remain anonymous or they could potentially lose their jobs. They are flat-out mystified as to why this is happening. Nobody said one negative thing about Kent Walton.
More and more, this appears to be exactly what it purports to be---a BYU student-athlete getting kicked out of school because he didn't attend church often enough. According to at least one coach, Walton had a great chance at being an all-American this year. According to Walton and his roommate, he went to church at least five times in eleven or twelve weeks, plus he watched general conference.
Have we really gotten to this point? Have we become so concerned with exactness in keeping the laws of the Church that our students at BYU have to account for their Sunday attendance or risk having their academic and athletic careers jeopardized? Are we really willing to tell the world that athletes are not invited to come to BYU unless they are willing to prove their church attendance 75% or even 50% of the time? Can we read the words of Jesus, who routinely criticized the Pharisees yet said to the adulterous woman, "Neither do I condemn thee"---can we read his words and not hesitate to dismiss people from school for not going to church often enough in their own ward?
When I read the words in section 121 of the Doctrine and Covenants, I get a different sense: "No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the prieshood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned." (41).
These words, which have special significance for many, lead me to be very careful about coercing another person to obedience. Yes, there are rules and regulations and promises and covenants. But there should also be some perspective applied when administering punishments. It seems that Kent was never warned that his lack of attendance was about to get him dismissed from school. It also appears that he was not asked if he had attended sacrament meetings elsewhere. And he was almost certainly not allowed a period of time to improve his attendance in his home ward after a warning. And now, as a result of this, we have a young member of the Church who feels betrayed, a family who is hurting and angry about the actions of local Church leaders, an athletic department that is "mystified as to why this is happening," and a public who is trying to make sense of the whole thing. Soon we may even see our enemies using this as supposed proof of our intolerance and/or foolishness.
As a rule, we do not question the actions of our leaders in the Church. But to their credit, they almost always act in a spirit keeping with Section 121---in love, tolerance, and gentleness. I guess I'm saying that this doesn't seem to measure up to those virtues. If this offends anyone, I apologize. I don't mean to offend anyone. I just wonder if there wasn't a better, wiser way to handle all of this. I guess it's easier for me to put myself in the shoes of the young man, than in the shoes of his leader. And now, as one who loves the Church and BYU and the many good things they stand for, I sorrow for the image of intolerance, pedancy, and harshness that all this brings upon us.
