Connecticut forward gets NCAA waiver

Connecticut player Kentan Facey was granted a waiver to play this season and allowed four years of eligibility by the NCAA, which was looking into eligibility issues related to his schooling in Jamaica, the university said Friday.

The 6-foot-9 forward had left the island’s British education system to attend his final two years of high school at Long Island Lutheran High School.

The NCAA was looking into whether an exit exam he took in the British System before he left started his eligibility clock. The NCAA usually gives athletes one year after they leave high school to enroll in college without any penalties.

Coach Kevin Ollie said the NCAA waiver means Facey, 20, will have four years of eligibility starting this season.

“I can’t say enough about what a model student-athlete Kentan has been in spite of the situation he was facing,” Ollie said in a statement. “He never let circumstances distract his positive image of himself and that’s just a testament to his strong character. We are very excited that he will be with us this year and beyond.”

Connecticut has eight players returning from a team that finished with a 20-10 record last season, when it was academically ineligible for the NCAA tournament.

He is expected to bolster a frontcourt, which had been the Huskies biggest concern. Senior Tyler Olander was reinstated to the team this month after a suspension stemming from his arrest on drunken-driving charges in September. Those charges were dropped and he later pleaded guilty to driving without a license.

St. John’s

Sophomore

center

Chris Obekpa was suspended from two exhibition games for a violation of university policy. The 6-foot-9 sophomore, who led the NCAA last season with an average of 4.03 blocks per game, will be reinstated for the season opener Nov. 8 against Wisconsin in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Elsewhere

Wes Bialosuknia, who averaged 28 points a game for Connecticut in the 1966-67 season to set a school record, died Wednesday at the age of 68 in Hartford, Conn.

Bialosuknia was drafted by the NBA’s St. Louis Hawks in 1967, but chose to play in the ABA’s Oakland Oaks.