| | Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. -- No. 13 Connecticut opened its season Friday without two key players because of NCAA infractions.
Freshman swingman Caron Butler will sit out the first three games for accepting impermissible expenses to attend prep school last year at Maine Central Institute.
Senior Souleymane Wane also is ineligible for three games. School officials would only say that the 6-11 center violated an NCAA rule and would not say what rule was broken.
The highly touted 6-7 Butler started and scored 12 points in Tuesday's 111-59 exhibition win against the New York All-Stars. He averaged 26.2 points and 13 rebounds a game last year at the private prep school. Butler probably would not have played Friday, anyway, because he injured an ankle in practice Thursday.
Because UConn and Butler did not contest the rule, Butler -- under an amnesty clause -- does not admit guilt and does not have to pay back the money, but is ruled ineligible for 10 percent of the season. That is approximately three games.
Wane, a native of Senegal, began playing organized ball in 1995 while at Redemption Christian Academy in Troy, N.Y. A backup to Jake Voskhul, Wane played in 34 of 35 games last season and averaged 4.3 points and 4.8 rebounds. He was suspended one game last year for violating team rules.
UConn opened with a 86-72 win Friday over Quinnipiac. The Huskies now play Dayton on Monday in the first game of the Maui Invitational in Hawaii. | |
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