Will Sheridan stands 6’8” and weighed 240 pounds during his four-year college basketball career at Villanova. Never a standout in the rugged Big East Conference, Sheridan held his own in the nations toughest college basketball league. He finished his career with averages of slightly more than five points and five rebounds per game in his senior season of 2006-2007.

This week, Sheridan, a developing musician came out and let those outside of his inner circle know that he is gay.

As can be expected, reactions have ranged from the “so, what” to “it’s about time” to general outrage, negative comments, and ridiculous remarks.

While it is a unique situation – very few major college or professional American athletes have come out either while they were playing or even after – Sheridan’s tone and attitude surrounding coming out have been refreshing.

On the Jim Rome Show on Tuesday, Sheridan discussed his decision to come out with a matter of fact tone. He was more at-peace with the decision than any athlete I’ve heard including John Amechi or even world-class rugby star Gareth Thomas.

Unlike Amechi or even Sheridan, Thomas came out while still playing and dealt with some negative consequences of teammates and opposing players’ prejudice and negative reaction.

On the radio Tuesday, Sheridan discussed the reactions he got from everyone in his life. He talked about how his college roommate basically didn’t bat an eye. He described how many of his teammates said they already knew and that they basically had already accepted it. Sheridan’s comments showed that Villanova at-large was very supportive of him. It also showed that his team and the program was singularly focused on the goal of winning. It was the kind of thing that can make a listener really believe that the world is evolving and getting better.

In an interview with Outside the Lines, Sheridan was quoted as follows:

“I’m trying to have a voice, and I want that voice to reach as many people as it can,” he said. “I mean, look at me. I’m black. I’m gay. I’m like a quadruple minority, and I feel like a little piece of me resides in everybody. Maybe there’s a kid out there who doesn’t think he’s OK, and he can look at me and say, ‘OK, he played college basketball. He went overseas. He has a music career and now he’s living his life. Now he’s who he wants to be and he’s happy and confident and comfortable.’ It’s my responsibility to talk about that.”

The word “comfortable” is the most important one here. Villanova University and his teammates, the program, etc… made him comfortable and contributed to the confident guy he seems like today.

There are players in today’s professional sports who are gay. There have to be. The numbers are too vast and the whispers are too many. They are out there in locker rooms in Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA, MLS, and the NHL. Yep, there are gay hockey players too.

Maybe none of them are as comfortable with their situation as Sheridan. Their motivations for coming out or not are certainly different. Some of them may feel their livelihoods are at-stake. If they are a mid-level player like Amechi or an 11th or 12th man could very well have a lot to do with any decision they make about whether to come

I’m far from an expert on the situation, but there are three points I’d like to make:

1) Nobody HAS to come out or has responsibility to do that if they don’t want to. When livelihoods and personal privacy are at-stake, people make their own decisions. Respect needs to be maintained.

2) If you were a REALLY good gay basketball player – whether you were out or not – and were being recruited by Villanova, what are the chances you’d go there after hearing about all the support Sheridan received?

3) When someone finally does come out, it will be a good story, and then, hopefully, it will move quickly to the background, just like it did for Will Sheridan’s teammates.

Then we’ll go back to worrying about the game. The modern game.