A suspension and a broken nose in a week is bad news for anybody, but for Lawrence Roberts and the Mississippi State Bulldogs, they can be downright brutal.
Roberts was suspended for the Bulldogs opening game against Fairfield in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Thursday night for receiving $900 in travel and hotel money from the Portland Trail Blazers to attend a workout over the summer.
According to NCAA rules, underclassmen can accept money from the NBA to attend the pre-draft workout in Chicago but cannot accept money from individual teams.
The NCAA suspension on Mississippi State was eased by the fact that Roberts quickly repaid the money and the school self-reported the violation.
Just when the Bulldogs thought they had dodged a bullet with the suspension, they got shot with a second one courtesy of an inadvertent elbow.
Head coach Rick Stansbury told ESPN.com that Roberts broke his nose in two places in practice and had surgery on Monday. Roberts will not only miss the first game of the season in which he is suspended, but the second game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic should the Bulldogs advance past Fairfield.
Stansbury said that he is hopeful that Roberts will be able to play in the tournament semifinals in New York if Mississippi State advances past the first two rounds.
Stansbury said that he would likely start sophomore Piotr Stelmach in Roberts place for the first two games. Stelmach averaged 0.9 points per game and 1.1 rebounds per game last season, a far cry from Roberts’ 16.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.