The departure of Auburn basketball forward Josh Dollard has been the day's biggest news, even (temporarily) drowning out the anticipation of the start of football practice on Saturday.
The timing of Dollard's dismissal was a surprise, but the fact it happened shouldn't exactly floor anyone. After all, Dollard has spent almost as much of his career on the sideline as he's spent on the court. He was suspended for the final five games of his freshman season for a team-rules violation that also cost him six games his sophomore season. Then he spent all of his junior season (last year) on the shelf with what Jeff Lebo called "medical issues." (The vagueness of this non-diagnosis didn't appear to bother anybody, least of all Lebo.)
Dollard's dismissal means still more hard times for Auburn's basketball team, which returns just five scholarship players -- Quantez Robertson, Rasheem Barrett, DeWayne Reed, Vot Barber and Lucas Hargrove -- none of whom has ever played on a team with a winning SEC record. At the moment, only four of Auburn's five signees are ready to enroll for the fall semester. (SF Kenny Gabriel's status is still up in the air.) That gives Lebo the following lineup (I'm guessing here...this is just where I'd play 'em):
C - Vot Barber
PF - Johnnie Lett
SF - Lucas Hargrove
SG - Frankie Sullivan
PG - Quantez Robertson
Bench
F - Francis Aihe
G - Tay Waller
G - DeWayne Reed
G - Rasheem Barrett
This group has to play 16 SEC games? Lebo has had plenty of challenges in his AU tenure -- just ask him! -- but this could be the toughest yet.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement