Source: McCoy Down, May Quit

Frustrated by his continued lack of playing time--specifically, his 13-minute outing Saturday against California--center Jelani McCoy apparently is weighing whether to quit the team.

“I talked to him tonight and he was real down,” said a source who spoke to McCoy on Saturday night. “I think he felt like quitting earlier today [Saturday]. But he said he hadn’t made a final decision. He’s going to talk to his mother and his father tomorrow [today] and decide then.”

McCoy’s father said Saturday night that he had heard nothing about the junior getting ready to quit.

ESPN, which broadcast an erroneous report in November that McCoy had been kicked off the team, reported Saturday night that McCoy already had left the team.

“I certainly haven’t heard anything like that from Jelani,” Fred McCoy said.

Immediately after the Cal game, McCoy, an all-conference selection last season, calmly but clearly expressed his growing frustration with his uncertain role on the team after sitting out the final 12:45 of the game,.

“It’s getting old, I’ll say that,” said McCoy, who played only two minutes in the second half. “It’s getting real old.”

Coach Steve Lavin, who played McCoy for 25 productive minutes Thursday against Stanford, said that McCoy’s play Saturday did not merit more action. “I think Jelani really struggled today,” Lavin said.

Said McCoy, who had four points and three rebounds: “I wasn’t [Michael] Jordan out there, but I wasn’t hurting the team.”

UP NEXT

* Wednesday, at USC--With a significant Sunday match-up across the country at No. 2-ranked Duke looming for UCLA, the Bruins could use a smooth performance against the Trojans.