Disgruntled Bennem Quits UC Irvine Team

UC Irvine guard Zamiro Bennem has quit the men’s basketball team, according to an Anteater spokesman, and intends to enroll in, but not play for, a local community college.

Bennem, a 6-4 sophomore, started 10 games last season and averaged 5.4 points and 2.1 rebounds for Irvine (14-14 overall). He got less playing time as the season progressed and missed four games in the latter half of the Big West Conference schedule because of personal problems.

Oscar Abreu, a close friend and Bennem’s private basketball coach when Bennem played at Magnolia High, said Bennem wanted to be granted redshirt status next season. But Irvine Coach Pat Douglass, who said he was surprised by Bennem’s decision to quit the team, said he told Bennem last week that he preferred to wait and see if that was necessary.

“He seemed to be making the adjustments he needed to make at the end of the season,” Douglass said. “But I felt this time, when we talked, that he wasn’t comfortable and that maybe he needed to sit back and assess what he wanted to do.”

Bennem is the third underclassmen to leave the team this year. Mark Gottschalk, a 6-10 sophomore center, quit in early January, and Greg Ethington, a 6-8 freshman center, left last week on a two-year Mormon mission to Canada. Ethington said it was unlikely he would return to play for the Anteaters.