Saturday, January 08, 2000
XU's Turner cleared to play - but will he?
BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Sophomore forward Aaron Turner was cleared Friday to play again in Xavier basketball games, but that doesn't mean he will do so Sunday at Rhode Island.
Coach Skip Prosser said it's too early to say what Turner's role will be after serving a six-game suspension for academic reasons and a one-game suspension for violating a team rule.
“There's no guarantee that he will be out there in games,” Prosser said. “We'll have to wait and see. I don't know yet.”
Turner started the first six games of the season for the Musketeers (10-3) and averaged 6.3 points and 8.7 rebounds. His suspension was announced Dec.18, the night of the Crosstown Shootout. That news release said Turner could return to the active roster during the second semester, which starts on Monday.
The 6-foot-7 Columbus native has been practicing since Dec. 25, but he watched the last three home games from the bench in street clothes and did not travel to Marquette last weekend.
The decision to reinstate Turner was made after discussions between Prosser, Athletic Director Mike Bobinski and academic adviser Sister Rose Ann Fleming.
“Aaron's been eligible all along, but it was our opinion that he wasn't putting the emphasis on his academic work and that it was time to make that message clear to him,” Bobinski said.
“We feel like sitting him down for the length of time that we did was a significant move. ... It's time to see if he can get it done and if the message has, in fact, gotten through.”
Did Turner get the message?
“I'm gonna be there on time and working hard because I'm trying not to miss any more games,” he said. “It's been hard missing games, big ones, too. I was mad about it.”
Xavier won six of seven games without Turner and was on the way to winning the other, but watched an 18-point lead disappear at Marquette.
Sophomore Kevin Frey has scored in double figures five times and averaged 13.1 points and 6.1 rebounds while starting in Turner's absence. He is expected to start Sunday.
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