LOUDONVILLE — Awa Diop, the projected starting center on the Syracuse women’s basketball team, was suspended for four games by the NCAA, the SU athletic department announced in a release Friday before the Orangewomen’s first-round WNIT game against Siena.

Diop played four games with a French club team during the summer. The penalty is a one-for-one suspension, meaning Diop must sit one college game for each game she played during the offseason.

‘I think it’s unfair to the student-athlete,’ SU coach Marianna Freeman said after the 83-66 loss to Siena. ‘Awa is a foreign athlete. The NCAA’s different definition of amateurism affects her. She played four games in France, and so she’s going to have to sit four games here.’

‘There’s nothing I can do,’ said Diop, who was the No. 1 junior-college center. ‘I just have to respect the decision.’

Freeman knew all summer Diop could have been suspended, but waited for the NCAA to process its decision.

The suspension is another blow in a rough month for Diop. The center has fainted twice since coming to Syracuse, most recently at Manley Field House two weeks ago during a practice.

On Friday, Freeman said Diop is healthy. She had been cleared Thursday to play against Siena if not for the suspension.

Diop also will miss SU’s next three contests — at Harvard, versus Vanderbilt and at California. She is allowed to practice while suspended and is eligible to play at San Francisco on Dec. 1.

The Orangewomen, exemplified by Siena’s 38-28 points-in-the-paint advantage, will miss Diop’s 6-foot-4 build and low-post scoring ability.

With Diop out and Chineze Nwagbo recovering from a knee injury, freshman Tierra Jackson will log more minutes at center.

‘I look forward to having (Diop) on the floor,’ Freeman said. ‘She will certainly make a difference.’

Staff writer Scott Lieber contributed to this story.

Published on November 17, 2002 at 12:00 pm