Notre Dame forward Tim Abromaitis has been suspended for the first four games of the upcoming season because he illegally participated in two exhibition games...three years ago.
Notre Dame’s Tim Abromaitis Suspended Four Games
In 2008-2009, Abromaitis played in each of the Fighting Irish’s preseason exhibitions before redshirting the rest of the year. The NCAA allows freshmen to play in preseason games and still redshirt, but not upperclassmen. Abromaitis was a sophomore.
"This certainly was an unfortunate misunderstanding that I had of the NCAA rule," Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said in a statement. "I discovered that I had misinterpreted the rule midway through the 2008-09 season and immediately reported it to our compliance office."
I’m not sure why this suspension is just being dolled out if Brey did, in fact, report the violation at some point in late 2008 or early 2009. Things move a bit slower in Indianapolis, and that’s the way they like it.
Abromaitis, a third team All-Big East selection a season ago, averaged double figures for the second consecutive year as he finished as the Irish’s second-leading scorer at 15.4 points per game. He also was the team’s second-leading rebounder, grabbing a career-best 6.1 boards per game.
Ultimately, the ruling should not have much of an effect as the Wooden Award candidate will miss games against the relatively pedestrian quartet of Mississippi Valley State, Detroit, Sam Houston State and Delaware State. He will return just in time for Notre Dame’s game against Missouri in the CBE Classic semifinals on Nov. 21.
See More:
