Savovic cleared to play Friday
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
The suspense over the suspension is finally over.
The NCAA informed University of Hawai'i officials yesterday that Predrag Savovic can play in the Rainbow Warriors' next basketball game, Friday against San Diego State.
The announcement means that Savovic was assessed a seven-game penalty for his past participation with professionals in a league in Yugoslavia prior to arriving in the United States.
"We're happy with it because we were prepared for possibly (a penalty of) eight games," UH head coach Riley Wallace said.
Under new guidelines set by the NCAA Nov. 1, eight games is the maximum penalty a player can sit out for participation with pros in foreign leagues.
Savovic sat out UH's first six games of this season while awaiting a decision. Last night's game against Alcorn State was the seventh, and final, game of his penalty.
"I can't say if it was fair or unfair," Savovic said three hours after learning of the decision. "The NCAA did what they had to do and now it's over. I'm just glad they made the decision."
Wallace, admittedly not a computer whiz, found information on Yugoslavian leagues on the Internet last week that may have saved Savovic one game. On telebasket.com, Wallace discovered that Savovic played in 26 games in a top-level Yugoslavian league, and another nine in a European tournament.
UH officials submitted the total of 35 games to the NCAA. Based on the Nov. 1 guidelines, players can be penalized 20 percent of the games they played with professionals in Europe, up to a maximum of eight.
"Twenty percent of 35 is seven, so that's (the penalty) we asked for," Wallace said. "Because of the kind of player he is, saving him one game is big."
Savovic, a 6-foot-6 senior guard, led the team with 17.6 points per game last season and was a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection. Prior to the start of this season, he was named one of three team captains.
"I wouldn't say it was frustrating; more tempting," he said of watching his teammates compete. "I wanted to be out there helping them. The hardest part was there was nothing I could do."
Until the seven-game penalty this season, Savovic had started all 60 games over his previous two seasons at UH. He played his freshman season at Alabama-Birmingham before transferring to Hawai'i.
Wallace did not hesitate in saying that Savovic will start at the shooting guard position Friday. However, he was not sure how he would adjust the rest of the rotation.
Sophomore Carl English has been the team's leading scorer while starting in Savovic's spot.
"It's not a hard decision — Savo's the man," Wallace said. "In practice, you could never tell he wasn't eligible to play. He's looked the same, or better, than a year ago."
Savovic was one of three UH players under investigation for past participation in European leagues.
Mindaugas Burneika from Lithuania did not receive any penalty; Luc-Arthur Vebobe was assessed a six-game penalty.
Freshman forward Tony Akpan remains under investigation for a separate issue. The NCAA is looking into his travel expenses prior to attending UH.
