PITTSBURGH – Kansas State held forward Jamar Samuels out of Saturday’s 75-59 loss to top-seeded Syracuse on Saturday to due to an eligibility concern.

Athletic Director John Currie addressed the media minutes before tipoff in the secondary training room inside Consol Energy Center to announce that Samuels, a fifth-year senior, would be unavailable for the game.

Currie said the situation with Samuels was one that arose rapidly within the past 24 hours and that the school is working as quickly and diligently as possible to resolve it.

Currie declined to comment on the specifics of the matter, but he did say that NCAA is involved.

He also did not comment on whether or not their could be retroactive punishment handed out to Kansas State for games Samuels has already played in.

‘Jamar is one of the greatest kids I’ve been around, OK?’ KSU head coach Frank Martin said after the game. ‘What took place, as we found out last night, was completely unfortunate. As a university, we have to take a stance and protect our university. Unfortunately, it put him in a tough spot.’

Martin also declined to comment on any details of the situation. He said he was not involved in the decision-making process.

‘He’s, in my opinion, done nothing wrong,’ Martin said. ‘You always have to err on the side of caution and not do something and look back on it and then regret your decision.’

Samuels was in attendance for Kansas State’s game against Syracuse on Saturday, and the Wildcats missed his scoring and rebounding. Samuels averaged 10 points per game this season, second on the team, and he was also the Wildcats leading rebounder at 6.6 per game.

‘He’s our toughest kid,’ Martin said. ‘He gives us the ability to make some shots against that zone. It gives us a frontline guy who’s a fifth-year senior to deal with the adjustments that you got to make during the course of the game.’

In his place was freshman Thomas Gipson. The 6-foot-7, 275-pound Gipson finished the game with eight points and eight rebounds. He struggled offensively, though, shooting just 2-of-9 from the field and missing several layups around the rim. He also struggled at the free-throw line, where he went 4-of-8.

And when starting forward Jordan Henriquez got into foul trouble, it meant the Wildcats had one less big man to rely on inside.

Martin, who became teary-eyed while discussing his fifth-year senior, said he spoke with Samuels and told him that if this were the worst thing to ever happen to him, he would be one of the luckiest people on the planet.

When asked how the loss of Samuels affected the game, Martin compared it to the play of SU point guard Scoop Jardine. Jardine, a fifth-year senior for the Orange, dominated the second half and led his team to a win with 16 total points and eight assists.

‘That’s why when you asked me about Jamar, you know, we lose our fifth-year senior, their fifth-year senior made the difference in the game,’ Martin said. ‘We didn’t lose because we lost Jamar. Let me get that straight now, because Syracuse is minus a very good player, too. We just lost the toughest guy on our team.’

Kansas State shooting guard Rodney McGruder, who wound up leading the Wildcats in scoring with 15 points, said he was saddened by the loss of his teammate. Especially considering it would have been Samuels’ final game in a K-State uniform.

‘It was tough playing without him, especially one of our seniors. He’s one of the main leaders of the team,’ McGruder said. ‘It was just tough, you know. It’s tough that he would never get to play another game in a Kansas State uniform. He missed his last game.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu 

Published on March 16, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13