Coach Mark Fox won't need them but Nevada's best player, Marcelus Kemp and Brandon Fields, a sophomore who is bidding for playing time this season, have been benched for today's game against Seattle Pacific.
Darrell Moody, of the Nevada Appeal, has this information is an article today but he provides no details as to why Kemp and Fields will be held off the court.
Obviously, the question of were Kemp and Fields also at the party where three people were killed and that also resulted in Tyrone Hanson being dropped from the Wolf Pack squad due to his attendance, isn't answered but Steve Sneddon of the Reno Gazette-Journal apparently knows the reason for the benchings and provided it in his article today:
"...On Tuesday, however, during the news conference announcing the dismissal of sophomore guard Tyrone Hanson, Fox said two unnamed players would not play in the exhibition after missing class..."
Kemp is a sixth year player -- yes, you read that correctly -- and a senior who should be demonstrating leadership both on and off the court. Fields has major minutes staring him in the face, even more so with the departure of Hanson, but incuring Fox's wrath is not a path towards greater playing time.
Junior Lyndale Burleson is out for the first semester due to academics. Senior Demarshay Johnson is back this season after missing last year because of grades.
The post-Fazekas era is getting wobbly in Reno.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Kemp, Fields benched today for Nevada's first contest
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3 comments:
Wobbly? Not so much. Losing Hanson hurts, but tonight true freshman Armon Johnson scored 22pts and had 8 assists, sophomore center Javale Mcgee scored 29pts and had 11 boards in 24 minutes. Fox is laying down the law and it had to be done, but this team is not going to rolover
er...roll over. My first post on the site and I can't spell or punctuate.
Patrick,
Thanks for the comments. Let me clarify: 'wobbly' in the sense that after having to dismiss a kid -- Hanson --who had a great chance to blossom into a facsimile of Marcelus Kemp and then having Kemp forsake his leadership role by missing class is not what Mark Fox expected to or wants to be dealing with at this point.
These are distractions, going into reverse -- Hanson's departure -- and then neutral -- Kemp and Fields not living up to ther respective commitments -- from the forward progression Fox is pursuing.
But, no, Nevada isn't going to pieces in front of our eyes. There's too much talent in Reno and a very solid coaching staff for such to happen.
Let's hope Kemp quickly realizes his off the court behavior affects his on-court role. His teammates deserve better and he is capable of better.
My guess is this benching will be a one-time thing because Kemp will have gotten the message.
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