McCoy Is Real Missing Bruin

Jelani McCoy was a lost Bruin on Tuesday, neither part of the team nor possibly part of its future, wandering without supervision or word to his worried parents.

Though UCLA officials maintained their usual curtain of silence on the matter, sources close to the situation indicated that McCoy earlier this week ran afoul of the criteria for ending his indefinite suspension and was in jeopardy of never playing for the school again.

Also, McCoy’s father and his high school coach said a rift had developed the last few months between the junior center and the UCLA coaching staff, which could have triggered McCoy’s recent rule-breaking.

As of Tuesday night, McCoy, 19 and the team’s only center, was incommunicado.

“I called his mother and she’s just as mystified as I am--he hasn’t talked to either of us,” Fred McCoy said. “Everybody’s calling us and telling us he’s been kicked out of school, but we haven’t heard from Jelani or anybody from the school.

“It’s to the point where it’s either really bad news, bad news or something that isn’t great but we can work out. But the longer he tries to avoid us, the worse the news is going to be once he does, I’m afraid. Why else would he be avoiding his parents? I can’t imagine what he could be doing now.”

Citing privacy concerns, UCLA has never confirmed nor denied a report that McCoy and Johnson, both suspended Sept. 29, had failed school drug tests multiple times.

Tuesday, Athletic Director Peter Dalis said people in his department felt “harassed” by the media when asked to react to two reports this week that McCoy would not be rejoining the team.

Asked if there had been a development in the status of either player, Dalis said: “I don’t know of any.”

Said Coach Steve Lavin: “Nothing has changed except for the fact that somehow the media has this idea that it’s over for Jelani. [But it’s] the same status as before.”

Asked if McCoy could return, Lavin said no determination had been made.

Though Lavin has praised Johnson for his clear desire to follow the steps laid out to him by UCLA during his suspension, and though Johnson has been far more visible around the team, Lavin said it would be wrong to assume that McCoy had been remiss.

Late last week, McCoy told his father he expected to be reinstated Dec. 13.

“Jelani’s been working out a lot too,” Lavin said. “He’s been working out I think at a health club. He’s been running on the track in the mornings. They’ve both been working out. And to tell you the truth, the working out part has nothing to do with the criteria for reinstatement.”

Lavin said he last spoke to McCoy two days ago, when McCoy told him he “still wants to be part of the basketball team.”

The current situation is consistent with UCLA’s drug-testing protocol, which states that after three positive tests a player is subject to the possible loss of his scholarship for the following school year and a one-game suspension.

On the fourth positive test, the player is suspended immediately and may have his scholarship terminated at the end of the quarter. But there are provisions within the protocol for the player to be reinstated at any time by consent of school medical staff and the coaching staff.

The protocol also states that a player who tests positive can challenge any positive test, which would result in a retest.

Though no one at UCLA was commenting about McCoy’s recent attitude, Fred McCoy and Bill Peterson, who coached McCoy at St. Augustine High in San Diego, said McCoy had been chafing under Lavin.

“What I’ve picked up from the things he’s said and the things he hasn’t said, something must’ve happened during last season that changed things for him and he just started onto his own thing,” Fred McCoy said.

“Something happened with him and Lavin or one of the other coaches--they tried to discipline him or something and he thought they were being unfair to him and they changed the way he thought about them.”

Both Fred McCoy and Peterson did not deny that McCoy sometimes needs discipline. But Peterson pointed out that McCoy had a smoother time under former Coach Jim Harrick.

“I am at a loss, I really can’t explain what he’s trying to do--unless he’s trying to get away from the program,” Peterson said. “He doesn’t care for Lavin. I know that.

“He does not like people in his face, telling him what to do. Harrick was more laid back. And if there was anything that needed to be done with discipline, Lorenzo [Romar, the former assistant now at Pepperdine] could talk to him.”

Peterson said he hopes McCoy doesn’t believe he can jump to the NBA without playing at least three years in college.

“He’s ruined his reputation is what he’s done,” Peterson said. “The stupidity of it jumps at me.

“I talked to him last spring when it seemed like J.R. [Henderson] was thinking about leaving for the NBA. I told Jelani and told him to tell J.R. to think about two words: Ed O’Bannon. There are a whole lot of 6-9 guys wandering around in and out of the NBA . . . and now Jelani’s gotten himself all screwed up.”

Henderson, the team’s only other player taller than 6 foot 6, said he had asked Lavin if the reports were true and had been told nothing was changed.

“Believe me, I want to be the first to know if anything was to change as far as him not coming back,” Henderson said.

What kind of team would UCLA be this season without McCoy? “Small,” Henderson said. “It’d be rough. It’d be tough every game. Every game we’d have to struggle and find ways to win. Too bad if it has to be that way.

“Obviously, he’s our only center.”

Senior guard Toby Bailey said that if McCoy is lost for the season and beyond, UCLA will move on.

“Jelani’s a great player, but there were times when we played without him last year, and we still won,” Bailey said. “This team still has three potential NBA players, which is more than most teams.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Center of Attention

Jelani McCoy’s statistics in 1996-97:

Games: 28

Points: 11.1

Rebounds: 6.7

Assists: 1.7

FG%: .768

FT%: .417