Stanford’s Lopez to Sit, Study, Surprise

The Stanford University Cardinal Men’s basketball team will not be able to play their starting forward/center, the seven-foot Brook Lopez, when their season begins on November 9th. Lopez, who averaged just over 12 points per game last season, has failed to live up to the academic standards of the university, and will be ineligible for participation in intercollegiate athletics until after an exam period at the University in the middle of December. Hopefully by that time Lopez will have improved his grades to the point where he is eligible to compete. He can, however, practice with the team, although it is almost certain that he will have to get his homework done beforehand. What good is his practicing if he still can’t play this season?

In the article about this at ESPN, Lopez blames himself for letting everyone- the team, the coach, his supporters- down with his bad grades. I suppose that slacking off and not being able to compete for the school that has given you a scholarship to play is not the best thing in the world to do, but one should remember that this is Stanford, after all. I mean, not making the academic standards of a school with a reputation like Stanford’s shouldn’t be that big of a shame. Albeit that we don’t have the full story of why he’s ineligible here. This could turn out to be a good thing for Stanford. If they start out weak, but get a player in time for the tough part of the season, they could surprise a bunch of teams. Lopez himself will probably come back with a certain amount of fire, too.

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