Arizona loses Blair due to dropping GPA
By Ross Bersot
and Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
TEMPE, Ariz. – Without question, Joseph Blair has been the most
consistent player on the No. 17 Arizona men’s basketball team. A
senior center, he leads the Pacific 10 Conference in rebounding
with 8.9 boards a game and is also the Wildcats’ top scorer,
averaging 14.9 points.
But Blair’s most important average, his grade point average,
isn’t nearly as commendable. After being ruled academically
ineligible by the Arizona Board of Regents this week, he will be
reduced to a spectator when No. 13 UCLA visits the McKale Center
Saturday for an 11 a.m. tip-off.
Blair’s problems in the classroom have surfaced at a most
inopportune time for the Wildcats, who rose to a No. 4 national
ranking with eight consecutive wins, only to be handed a rare home
defeat by Syracuse Dec. 23, and then begin league play with a pair
of losses in the Bay Area.
Tabbed as the favorite to win the conference title just two
weeks ago, Arizona now sits in a tie for fourth place. The Wildcats
did manage a 93-81 victory over USC Thursday nightwithout Blair,
but his absence will surely be much more detrimental against UCLA,
which leads the Pacific 10 in rebounding margin and received 21
points from center Jelani McCoy in an 87-73 defeat of Arizona State
Thursday night.
The Bruins (12-3 overall, 5-0 Pacific 10) have once again
established themselves as the team to beat in the conference, and a
road sweep of the Arizona schools would provide a bit of insurance
in the second half of their league schedule.