Illinois States Lorenzo Gordon, the 2005 Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year, has been dismissed from the university, due to academic reasons, and will have to forego his senior season with the Redbirds.
Gordon, who became the third Illinois State player to ever earn league newcomer of the year honors, led the Redbirds in scoring with 16.3 points per game and rebounding with 6.5 boards per contest.
"Obviously I cant speak for the university on this matter, head coach Porter Moser said. Lorenzo is a great kid who has been working hard in the classroom and on the court, but were disappointed that he didnt meet the academic requirements set forth by the university. At Illinois State we hold ourselves to very high academic standards and I am sad and disappointed to see him go.
Despite the loss of Gordon, Moser is still optimistic about the future of the program.
There is no question we will continue to move forward with the program in a positive direction, Moser said. We are very excited with the addition of the young student-athletes we have brought into the program combined with the returning players. Despite this turn of events, we are going to continue to move this program to a championship level.
In addition to winning the newcomer of the year award, Gordon was also the first Redbird to receive first team all-conference honors in four seasons. The Redbirds now return one starter, Greg Dilligard, from a team that finished 17-13 overall, last season.
