Status of Woods and Major unchanged

Men's basketball players Renaldo Major and Jonathan Woods will not return this week, coach says

By Nathan Hathaway

Fresno State men’s basketball coach Ray Lopes said the status of suspended players Renaldo Major and Jonathan Woods remains the same entering Thursday’s game against Texas-El Paso.

Major and Woods were suspended indefinitely last week for violating unspecified team rules.

The Fresno Bee quoted Major’s father in Friday’s issue as saying his son had been suspended because he failed a drug test.

Lopes declined to either confirm or deny that a failed drug test was the reason for Major’s suspension.

Lopes would not comment any further on either of the suspensions other than to say they would be effective through this week’s games.

The coach also suspended Terry Pettis, the team’s second-leading scorer, last week. Pettis was suspended for the remainder of the season for what Lopes deemed “conduct detrimental to the team.”

“ I want guys I can depend on and who put the team first,” Lopes said. “I’m doing what’s best for this team.”

In 12 games this season, Pettis was averaging 12.8 points per game and Woods was averaging 10 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Major was averaging 10.7 points per game, shooting 77.8 percent from the free-throw line, in 13 games.

These suspensions are the second on the season for Major (six games) and Pettis (eight games). It is Woods’ third suspension this season, totaling eight games.