Northridge’s Morbley Fails to Make the Grade : Men’s basketball: Future of Matadors’ leading scorer remains in doubt because of academic woes. He will miss team’s trip to Tennessee-Chattanooga this week.

Damion Morbley, the leading scorer and rebounder for the Cal State Northridge basketball team, will not travel to Tennessee with the team this week because of his fall semester grades.

Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said Morbley’s grade-point average dipped below the required 2.0 after his grades were released Friday.

“He’s got to get things taken care of back here,” said Cassidy, who told Morbley after practice Tuesday that he would not play in the Tennessee-Chattanooga tournament this weekend.

A 2.0 GPA is required by the school, not the NCAA, so the Matadors would not risk any forfeits if Morbley continued to play.

In order to raise his GPA, Morbley said, he will take two units during the intersession between semesters. Cassidy said Morbley would be able to play next week if he is taking intersession classes.

“I’ll be OK,” Morbley said. “I’m going to be eligible.”

Morbley, a junior forward-center, will be replaced by Matt Andrews, Tom Samson or Kevin Taylor this weekend.

“This is my first semester here and it wasn’t easy,” said Morbley, a 6-foot-6 transfer from Orange Coast College. “This is quite different from junior college.”

Morbley, who averages 18.6 points, is the only Northridge starter scoring in double digits. He also averages 8.4 rebounds.

Morbley has had an up-and-down season. He opened the season by scoring the team’s first nine points and emerged as one of the team’s top players.

But he was late to a Dec. 1 practice and was suspended for Northridge’s Dec. 2 game against Cal State Fullerton. He missed the team’s next practice without telling coaches of his whereabouts.

He returned to campus the next day, explaining to Cassidy that he had a family emergency. After that meeting, the coach and player each said the problems were resolved.

On Friday, Morbley rode the team bus to Burbank Airport, where the Matadors were to fly to Oakland for a game at St. Mary’s. On the bus, Cassidy learned of Morbley’s fall semester grades, so he asked him to stay home and try to meet with his instructors.

Morbley was unable to get in touch with anyone before the weekend, and the university is closed for the holidays this week, leaving his status in limbo.

“It’s been rough,” Morbley said. “My family and friends have been coming up to me asking if I’m eligible. That’s embarrassing. It’s a learning experience, one that I don’t want to repeat.”

Morbley said he expected he would be able to raise his grades during the intersession.

“I’ve got to do this for myself,” he said. “I can’t do it for the team. I’ve got to do it for myself and my future, putting basketball aside.”

Matador Notes

Given the loss of Morbley, the Matadors are fortunate this week that Taylor seems ready after missing most of the month because of a knee injury.

Cassidy said he’s not sure how much Taylor will be able to play this weekend because he has barely practiced since he was injured Dec. 2. . .

Northridge point guard Trenton Cross, who missed the second half of Friday’s game after his right wrist was injured in a pileup, told Cassidy he feels better.

X-rays taken Saturday revealed Cross had suffered only a sprained wrist. He practiced Tuesday with his wrist heavily taped.