By Todd Golden
TERRE HAUTE — Praise for the NCAA? It’s something one rarely hears in the circles of collegiate athletics.
But that’s what Indiana State coach Kevin McKenna had for the organization on Friday … and why not? The NCAA re-visited its two-game suspension it levied on ISU swingman Dwayne Lathan on Monday and reduced it to one game. Lathan fulfilled his suspension when he sat out Friday’s 88-58 ISU victory over Nebraska-Kearney at Hulman Center.
That means Lathan can play Monday against LSU in the Preseason NIT, which provides a major boost in ISU’s bid to advance to the NIT championship round in New York the following week.
“The NCAA doesn’t get enough credit for certain things. ... I commend them for the diligence for figuring out the right thing to do [in this case],” McKenna said.
Lathan was suspended for taking part in an unsanctioned charity tournament in April 2008 when he was still a student at Louisiana Tech. He transferred to ISU a short time later.
Lathan played two games in the tournament and the organization originally ruled that Lathan had to sit out a game for every game he played in the unsanctioned tournament.
Lathan played both games in one day and the NCAA found a precedent case that reduced Lathan’s suspension because of the timeline.
The NCAA said that instead of suspending Lathan one game for every one unsanctioned game he played in, it suspended Lathan one game for every day he played in the unsanctioned tournament.
“There was a precedent case the NCAA pulled up and reviewed and said, ‘You know what, this is the way we ruled on this one. One game for the one day he played.’ They reversed and took one game off the suspension,” he said.
Lathan left Hulman Center Friday before he could be reached for comment, but his teammates were thrilled to get the swingman back.
“He’ll help us a lot. He’s so athletic and he’ll bring a lot of energy to our team. We’re pretty deep as it is and you throw Dwayne in there -- it helps a lot,” ISU guard Jordan Printy said.
n ISU to redshirt all four freshmen — McKenna announced Friday that all four ISU freshmen -- Jake Odum, R.J. Mahurin, Logan Eitel and Lucas Eitel -- agreed to redshirt this season.
Mahurin’s status was known earlier in the week. McKenna confirmed redshirt status for the remaining freshmen Friday morning.
The move was not a surprise given ISU’s guard depth, which would have made it difficult for the freshmen to get minutes. Odum played well in two preseason games, but would have had trouble getting enough minutes to justify his activation.
“We’re trying to build a program here. We want those guys to be totally ready to play. I think a couple of them could play right now and really help us, but I don’t think it would do them justice to play them a few minutes here and there. We want them to be full speed for everything,” McKenna said.
However, it doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Redshirt status isn’t permanent, it is McKenna’s discretion as to whether he may activate any four of them later in the season, something he didn’t rule out.
“Things could change. Somebody could get hurt, or something else, and one of those guys might need to be ready to go. I tell them to stay ready, you never know. Things could change, but for now, this is what these guys have chosen to do based on our recommendation,” McKenna said.
