The Morning Dish – Saturday, January 15th
Mystery Condition Hospitalizes Nittany Lion: Penn State sophomore guard Marlon Smith remains hospitalized in serious condition after he collapsed and fainted during a Jan. 7 practice. Doctors continue to perform tests on Smith at Hershey Medical Center to determine the cause of Smith’s collapse. Penn State officials describe Smith as one of the most physically fit members of the basketball team. He averages 11.8 points per game. More importantly, everyone wishes a positive diagnosis and speedy recovery.
Healing Ute: Utah junior forward Richard Chaney still needs about another week before he can rejoin the team at practice after he had surgery in late December to repair two broken fingers. Chaney broke the fingers on his left hand during practice. Doctors confirmed that Chaney needs another two to four weeks of rehabilitation before he’ll be ready to play. Chaney averaged 11.5 points per game for the Utes before the injury.
Gophers Hurting: Minnesota may play Iowa today without leading scorer center Jeff Hagen or forward Brent Lawson. Hagen suffered a concussion during the Gophers’ victory at Purdue earlier this week, and Brent injured his hip in the same game. Team officials said both players are questionable for the game, and neither practiced Thursday.
Fall of a Titan: California State-Fullerton will place the balance of the season without leading rebounder Hardy Asprilla, who tore his right ACL against Long Beach State Thursday. Asprilla joined the Titans last season as a JuCo transfer. He has been one of the Titans most formidable defenders and has improved on offense to average 8.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
Northwestern Suspends Two: Northwestern coach Bill Carmody announced that freshman guard Gary Lee is academically ineligible and fellow freshman guard Brandon Lee – no relation – has been suspended for violating team rules. The length of Brandon Lee’s suspension has not been set, but Gary Lee will likely be red-shirted for the remainder of the season, Carmody said. Neither youngster puts up significant statistics: Gary Lee has not played a single game this season, and Brandon Lee averages 1.8 points per game.
Gator Lands in San Diego: Florida Gator transfer Mohamed Abukar has decided to attend San Diego State and will be eligible to play for the Aztecs in December 2005. The sophomore forward will have three semesters of eligibility remaining. Abukar had been averaging 5.0 points and 1.4 rebounds per game but sought more playing time than he had been receiving.
Tennessee Remains Shirtless: After Tennessee beat Mississippi State Wednesday, coach Buzz Peterson decided the Volunteers had earned the privilege to wear official practice jerseys. But the team’s seniors disagreed and told the coach that they wanted to continue shirts vs. skins practices until the team won a road game. Peterson adopted the motivational ploy after he felt the team did not deserve to wear any official “Tennessee” clothing because the team played poorly in a 25-point home loss to Vanderbilt.
Big East Commish Defends Syracuse, Pitt: Big East commissioner Tom Odjackjian defended the soft non-conference schedules of Syracuse and Pittsburgh, shifting the blame to reluctant opponents. Odjackjian said CBS officials attempted to work out a deal for Pitt to play Illinois, Duke or Michigan State, but all three institutions declined to play the Panthers. He said similar situations limited Syracuse’s ability to schedule more top opponents than Oklahoma State. Pitt officials apparently agreed to travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium to play the Blue Devils. The sticking point was CBS officials’ insistence to schedule the games in January in the midst of conference play.
Tonight’s Menu:
• Several big games light up the lineup today, but none more so than the clash of ACC heavyweights North Carolina and Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. The game will be the only regular season meeting between the Tar Heels and Demon Deacons.
• Besides the main event, other great action includes Louisville at Cincinnati, Syracuse at Providence, Iowa State at Oklahoma State, and UCLA at Arizona.