LSU Basketball Team Is Hit by Chicken Pox

Chicken pox has struck the Louisiana State basketball team.

Sophomore John Williams, a former star at Los Angeles Crenshaw High School, and teammate Bernard Woodside will be quarantined for two weeks, Dr. Marty Broussard, team physician, said Thursday. The disease is highly contagious, and other team members have been exposed, as has the Florida team, which beat LSU, 74-65, Wednesday night at Gainesville, Fla.

Although chicken pox is a common childhood disease, in adults it can lead to serious complications.

LSU Coach Dale Brown expressed concern over whether he would have enough men in uniform to play Saturday’s game against Auburn, and a physician recommended that the game be postponed.

Brown also said that Nikita Wilson, a starting forward and LSU captain, has been ruled academically ineligible and may not play for the rest of this season.

Brown criticized instructors who gave failing grades to Wilson and called their rejection of an appeal a “kangaroo court.” Wilson had appealed his failing grade in a mathematics course, saying he had missed a test, a quiz and an assignment because of trips he made with the basketball team.

The 6-8 junior has averaged 13.1 points and 6 rebounds a game this year.