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SoCal College News Report

Jelani McCoy: (Almost) Unconfirmed And
Unsubstantiated Rumors--(January 25, 1998)

Boy we hate to go out on a limb, but the talk all over Pauley Pavilion today was that Jelani McCoy played his last game as a Bruin today, which might explain two things: (1) why he sleep-walked through the game, and (2) why Lavin pulled him in favor of freshman Travis Reed in a six point game with less than 4 minutes to play.

The rumors are that Jelani has yet again broken an unspecified team policy (hint: our sources say it's the same one he broke last time), and that as a result, the school's attorneys are busy taking the steps necessary to revoke Jelani's scholarship.

We hate to hear this type of stuff, but honestly, it was all over Pauley today, and from some very knowlegeable and reliable sources no less. Likewise, we also heard that Lavin confirmed that Jelani will not have his scholarship next season.

Our sources also say that Jelani and his family have hired their own attorneys who are at work trying to oppose the action by the school. No one at UCLA, however, would confirm this, at least not for attribution.

We're not certain how a school goes about "revoking" a scholarship, or whether there are NCAA implications to the action, nor what the NCAA rules are on this subject, but it would truly be a shame and a waste if these rumors prove to be correct.

Without Jelani, UCLA will not have any real chance of success against the bigger teams that have, and will continue to give them trouble, like Washington, Stanford, and (gulp) even Cal.

Oh, and with the exception of McCoy, UCLA looked pretty good in its win against Louisville. Cameron Murray, in his first homecoming since leaving USC, played erratically, but then so did Toby Bailey. And what's up with Baron Davis fouling out? Are we the only ones who think that at times he just overplays on defense? Oh, well. Another day, another victory.