Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Five men's basketball players sit for "violation of a team rule"
Head Coach Brian Meehan explains reasoning behind decision
By Jeffrey Pickette
Andre Roberson '10, Terrell Hollins '10, Kenny Small '10, Christian Yemga '11, and Napoleon Lherisson '11 all missed last Sunday's 82-57 road loss against Washington University in St. Louis because of the "violation of a team rule," according to head coach Brian Meehan.
The move left the Judges without the services of three-fifths of the usual starting lineup (Roberson, Hollins, and Yemga), the team's top reserve off the bench (Small) and one of the team's low-post-oriented reserves (Lherrison).
Meehan said that the five players did not violate any University policies.
"Although it wasn't really a big deal," Meehan said, "It was a team rule nonetheless. They had to deal with the consequences."
Meehan did not share the specifics of the violation, but did offer this nugget:
"A couple of guys did something and a few other guys should have been watching out for them and they didn't."
"We kind of pride ourselves in doing things the right way. Although it wasn't a major thing, it was still a violation," Meehan said.
"We have very few rules and we expect the guys to follow the simple rules that we have and this was a situation where although nobody got in trouble for anything, I just needed to take action because you have to follow through on your word."
As a result of the decision, the Judges were left with a limited rotation of players last Sunday.
Tyrone Hughes '12, Vytas Kriskus '12 and Rich Magee '10 joined mainstays Steve DeLuca (GRAD) and Kevin Olson '09 in the starting lineup against WashU. Beau Bonness '11 (18 minutes), John Weldon '10 (3 minutes), and Jaime Shannon '12 (1 minute) all came off the bench.
Both Yemga and Lherrison will not play in next weekend's games at Carnegie Mellon University (Friday) and at the University of Rochester (Sunday), according to Meehan. Meehan did say that Roberson, Hollins, and Small will be "suited up" this weekend.
However, he has not made his "final decision" as to whether they will play against Carnegie and Rochester.
"As of now, they certainly have the opportunity to be eligible to play," he said. "My guess is if the week goes well, they'll probably be back."
Roberson, Small, and Hollins are the third, fourth, and fifth leading scorers, respectively, on the team this season. The trio averages a combined 30.4 points per game, over 40 percent of the team's offensive production.
Yemga has averaged 5.0 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in 19 games this season. Lherrison has appeared in 14 games off the bench, averaging 1.4 points.
"We have to become more responsible for one another. I really feel what goes on off the court translates on the court," Meehan said.
"We've been really inconsistent this year and I think these are the types of things that lead to it. So, we're really going to get back to working on being consistent on and off the court."
