Vebobe quits, plans to return to France
| • | 'Bows make road debut today at Texas-El Paso |
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Luc-Arthur Vebobe said au revoir to the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team yesterday.
Vebobe, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, informed the UH coaches yesterday that he was quitting after playing just six games in his first season with the Rainbow Warriors.
He plans to return to his parents' home in Antibes, France, and is hoping to play professional basketball there, according to UH head coach Riley Wallace.
"It was a surprise because he didn't really tell anybody he was unhappy," Wallace said. "He never talked to me or any of the other coaches, or any of his teammates."
Wallace said Vebobe was apparently not satisfied with his playing time.
Vebobe sat out the first six games of the season as a NCAA-issued penalty for his past participation with professionals in France. Since becoming eligible, he has played in six out of a possible seven games, averaging 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per game.
"He got off to a slow start because he had to sit out those first six games," Wallace said. "But he was a part of the rotation. We were planning to use him a lot on this road trip."
In UH's last three games, Vebobe played a total of 17 minutes, scoring six points and grabbing two rebounds. All his playing time this season came off the bench.
"That was more of a situation thing," Wallace said of Vebobe's recently diminished minutes. "He wasn't playing his way out (of the rotation) or anything like that."
Hawai'i is on its first Western Athletic Conference road trip of the season, with games scheduled at Texas-El Paso today and at Boise State Saturday.
Vebobe missed Monday's practice in Honolulu, supposedly because of a strep throat, and was not on the team bus when it departed for the airport that afternoon.
Vebobe was recruited to UH out of Foothill College (Calif.), where he averaged 12.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game last season. Prior to that, he played on France's junior national team.
Arguably the team's most athletically gifted player, Vebobe won the slam-dunk contest at UH's season-opening practice, Midnight 'Ohana.
Wallace said Paul Jesinskis, a 6-8 junior, would move into Vebobe's spot in the playing rotation.
