St. John’s Backup Center Suspended for Rest of Tournament

Marco Baldi, the backup center for fourth-ranked St. John’s, has been suspended for the NCAA tournament and part of next season by the NCAA, a university spokeswoman said Friday.

The suspension took effect immediately and left the Redmen, the top seeds in the West Regional, with just eight players for Friday night’s game with Montana State.

Katha Quinn, the St. John’s sports information director, said the university had been notified that the 6-foot-11 Baldi, a native of Italy, had been suspended for a total of 16 games for allegedly receiving improper expenses while playing in a development program for the Italian Olympic team last summer.

According to Jack Kaiser, athletic director at St. John’s, the expenses were for round-trip tickets between Italy and the United States, where Baldi, now a freshman at St. John’s, attended high school.