givens suspension

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Pepperdine Suspends omm'A Givens
For Breaking Temmate's Jaw--(January 16, 1998)

Pepperdine center omm'A Givens, who has had a very tough year in his first season as a starter after sitting out last year following his transfer from UCLA, was suspended for the Waves' two games in the Bay Area this weekend by Coach Lorenzo Romar after reportedly fighting with a teammate at practice Tuesday.

Givens is alleged to have broken teammate Aaron Butler's jaw during the practice, according to reports in the LA Times and the Daily News.

During his suspension, he will be replaced in the lineup by Kelvin Gibbs, a 6-6 redshirt freshman, who will play in a WCC game tonight at Santa Clara and on Saturday night at USF. Givens' absence leaves the Waves with only seven scholarship players. We attempted to contact Pepperdine to obtain an official statement from both Romar and/or Givens, but the school had no official comment. They said that Romar was in San Jose, and we could not reach Givens for comment.

Givens lost the starting spot early in the season in favor of Kelvin Gibbs for five games during non-conference play, but recently had been slotted in as a starter. He scored 19 points against Marist on December 30, his career high. Givens was considered a top prospect out of high school. He was an All-American at Aberdeen High in Washington, and had offers from Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan before signing with UCLA in 1993. After spending two seasons at UCLA, he transferred to Pepperdine following the 1995-96 season.