Another Loss: Senior’s Career Over
January 14, 2010 • By Mike Kaplan,
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Having already lost four players to season-ending injuries thus far, the short-handed Dukes have now lost another due to academic issues.
Coach Matt Brady announced this week that senior forward Dazzmond Thornton is academically ineligible for the second semester because he has “failed a class.” The ruling has effectively ended the Denver native’s college basketball career.
Thornton transferred to JMU from Texas Tech prior to the 2006-2007 season. After sitting out his first year due to transfer eligibility regulations, the bulky forward became a regular in the frontcourt rotation over the next two and half seasons, despite struggling to maintain a reasonable playing weight.
This year, battling back from a torn labrum suffered in the offseason, Thornton averaged 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in just more than 15 minutes per game. He started in four of the 12 games he played this season, including posting a career high 16 points in a losing effort against Georgia State on Dec. 5 at the Convocation Center.
The loss of Thornton weakens an already thin Dukes front court. Brady is looking for his younger players to pick up the slack created by Thornton’s departure.
“A number of guys are going to have a great opportunity,” Brady said. “Certainly Matt Parker and Trevon Flores are going to have more of an opportunity, but I think Alioune Diouf is going to have an opportunity to play some more too.”
Parker, a senior forward, has been buried on the Dukes bench behind more physical forwards. He is known as a perimeter shooter who does his damage from behind the arc. Parker is averaging 2.3 points per game on the year.
At 6-foot-11-inch, Flores has the size to replace Thornton, but questions remain as to whether he is physically strong enough to play in the paint. The enigmatic forward is still trying to find his niche as a big man in the rotation. Right now, he is not fast enough to stay in front of smaller, quicker forwards and not physical enough to contend with stronger centers. Still, Brady seems to trust Flores, starting him in 11 games this season.
Freshman Diouf is perhaps the most intriguing candidate to net some of Thorton’s minutes. At just 6-foot-5, Diouf is an undersized, gritty forward who has earned more playing time of late. He is a scrappy player who has had success against bigger opponents due to his physical style of play.
In addition to the loss of Thornton, Brady announced last week that sophomore forward Andrey Semenov will also be shelved for the remainder of the season. Semenov, who has performed well in limited action, will seek a medical redshirt for a lingering lower back injury suffered last year.
“It’s much better than last season, but it’s not 100 percent right now so we’re going to hope for a terrific off season where he can get stronger and recuperate,” Brady said.
Semenov joins sophomore Moore, freshman Eric Beard and sophomore Ryan Knight on injured reserve. JMU has just nine active players on its roster.
That number may soon increase to 10 as Brady reaches deeper into his bag of tricks. A familiar face in an unfamiliar place, Madison senior wide receiver Rockeed McCarter has been practicing with the basketball team.
“We were shorthanded right before break and he wanted to practice, and we needed a guy to practice so it was fine with us,” Brady said. “We’re happy to have him. He’s got great energy and he adds a lot to our practice.”
McCarter, a third-team All CAA selection for football, was a standout high school basketball player at Roman Catholic in Philadelphia. Brady stopped short of saying whether or not McCarter has a chance to break into the Dukes rotation.
“Right now he’s a tremendous addition to our team as a practice player because of his energy level and his hustle and his desire to be out here,” Brady said. “So that’s been a welcome addition.”
contact Mike Kaplan at mk218377@albany.edu
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