CHARLOTTESVILLE—When I arrived at John Paul Jones Arena around 2:20 p.m. today, there was a press release waiting for media who cover the U.Va. men’s basketball team.  The news wasn’t good for the Cavaliers.

Assane Sene, about whom I wrote a long feature that ran in today’s Times-Dispatch, will not play for Virginia until his eligibility status is resolved, athletic director Craig Littlepage announced.

Given that Sene, a 7-foot freshman from Senegal, has been practicing with the Cavaliers—and played in their scrimmage against West Virginia and their exhibition against Shepherd University this month—the timing of the announcement was a surprise.  The release was e-mailed to reporters at 2:05 p.m., less than two hours before the scheduled start of U.Va.‘s opener against VMI.

Sene, 19, will continue to practice with the team, Littlepage said.

“Because of a recent NCAA interpretation, there are some aspects of Assane’s pre-college enrollment that must be reviewed further,” Littlepage said in the statement.  “We’re looking to have this resolved quickly.”

Sene has lived in the United States for about 20 months.  He arrived in March 2007 and enrolled at South Kent School in Connecticut, where he was a 12th-grader in 2007-08. 

When Virginia traveled to Canada in late August to play three exhibition games in Montreal, Sene stayed back in Charlottesville because of concerns about his eligibility status.  But he’s been taking classes at U.Va. this semester and practicing with the team.  Asked about Sene during a teleconference with reporters Thursday, Virginia coach Dave Leitao gave no indication anything was amiss or that Sene might not play against VMI.

I’m hoping Littlepage will be available today to elaborate on the news release, but it’s not clear whether he’ll be at the game.

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Posted by Jeff White in • College Sports • University of Virginia
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