Wednesday, November 21, 2001
[ UH BASKETBALL ]
It's beginning to look like Hawaii basketball standout Predrag Savovic may miss a total of eight games due to NCAA eligibility issues. Hawaii still fuzzy on
Savovic’s NCAA caseBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comAnother day passed with no new news on the eligibility of Savovic and teammates Luc-Arthur Vebobe and Tony Akpan.
Because of the number of games UH officials reported that Vebobe played among professionals, Vebobe might be OK to play after missing the first two games of the season. Athletic director Hugh Yoshida said he was expecting documentation from the NCAA today that would clear Vebobe.
But the cases of Savovic and Akpan, who also sat out the first two games, remain unclear.
Savovic could miss up to six more games because of prior competition among pros. Akpan's case is even more murky because it has to do with how he got to America as a high schooler from his native Nigeria; there have been reports that a player broker may have been involved.
Akpan is a freshman who was not expected to contribute much this season, but the Rainbows (2-0) know they need Savovic -- the team's leading scorer of a year ago and top returning rebounder -- back in the lineup as quickly as possible. Hawaii plays Mercer on Friday on the Big Island.
At issue is Savovic's statement that he didn't know he was playing among pros, and had no way of knowing. The NCAA's position is that he should have known.
Savovic is not ineligible. But if he plays, the NCAA can charge UH with using an ineligible player. If that happens, the NCAA can look into penalizing Savovic and UH, but the school can ask for reinstatement of Savovic's eligibility. UH could also self-declare Savovic as ineligible and ask for his reinstatement from the NCAA.
The result for now: stalemate.
"Nothing has changed," Yoshida said last yesterday after another round of meetings with compliance officers and attorneys. "We sent our report in and hope the NCAA will respond."
That report says Savovic should not miss any games based on the information the school collected. But Savovic has already sat out two games.
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