Suspensions aplenty

As it is still technically the pre-season for 339 of the 347 DI college basketball teams, coaches are still trying to figure out who exactly they are going to have available to them, and when those players will be available.

Yesterday, it was eligibility problems that were in the news, as it looks more and more likely that freshman Renardo Sidney will be showing off his street clothes come Mississippi State's Nov. 13th season opener. The news was all bad, however, as UConn's Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Mouphtaou Yarou were both given the go-ahead to suit up.

Today, it is suspensions.

Let's start with Arkansas, where head coach John Pelphrey has handed down suspensions to five players. Freshman Glenn Bryant will miss two games. Junior Marcus Britt got six games for two separate violations of team rules. Freshman walk-on Nick Mason won't be dressing during the first semester.

But the most important suspensions were handed down to senior Stefan Walsh and sophomore Courtney Fortson, two starters from last years team. Both Walsh and Fortson have been suspended by Pelphrey before, and the latest is a result of multiple violations of team rules.

This is a big blow for an Arkansas team that actually has enough talent on their roster to compete in the SEC West. Kudos to John Pelphrey for laying down the law, although with everything his program has been through in the last two years, including allegations of rape just two months ago, is it already to late?


Also suspended is recently reinstated Illinois guard Jeff Jordan, Michael's other son. Jordan left the team after last season, and over the summer played in a non-sanctioned tournament, which Illini head coach Bruce Weber believes was a 3-on-3 tournament.

Jordan will have to sit out against SIU-Edwardsville on the 13th and Northern Illinois on the 17th, but he will be eligible to suit up against Presbyterian on the 21st.


UPDATE: Came across another one. Indiana State's Dwayne Lathan, a transfer from Louisiana Tech, is finally eligible this season after sitting out a year per transfer rules. A Louisiana native, Lathan was apparently looking forward to playing at LSU in the first round of the preseason NIT, the Sycamores second game of the season.

But back in April of 2008, Lathan played in a charity 3-on-3 tournament while still at Tech. The tournament was non-sanctioned. Thus, Lathan was suspended by the NCAA for the first two games of the season, meaning he will miss the LSU game.

For a charity, 3-on-3 basketball tournament 19 months ago.

Way to fry the big fish, NCAA.
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Jordan's coming back?!?!

Nope, not that Jordan.

His son, Jeff, is. Or at least wants too.

Jeff was a walk-on at Illinois the past two seasons, but voluntarily left the team back in June to focus on his studies. He wasn't a typical walk-on last year, either (and it there was more to it than who his dad was). A defensive stopper and solid ball handler, the younger Jordan averaged 8.4 mpg as a sophomore.

The Galesburg Register-Mail is reporting that Jordan has met with Illini assistants, but as of Wednesday afternoon he had yet to speak to coach Bruce Weber about returning.

Jeff Jordan wants to return to the Illini.
(photo credit: Illinois Loyalty)

Allowing Jordan back on the team does have its benefits. For starters, his dad is Michael Jordan. Having him hanging around practice isn't a bad recruiting tool. But in basketball terms, the Illini lost a lot in their back court to graduation. Jordan is not a big time scorer, but he is an experienced player that will provide defense and hustle as a role player.

Not a bad guy to keep around, especially since it seems like he is sincere about his desire to return. From his twitter:

wanna go 2 open gym with the squad like old times,but dnt knowif im still allowd up ther lol they might have banned me from the facility GNR

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