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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Cougars Lose Top Prospect In Basketball Selleaze Drops Out Of School In Order To Support Family

The ever-shrinking Washington State University basketball roster was reduced to 10 scholarship players Tuesday when the Cougars announced that prized recruit Ron Selleaze has given up basketball to support his struggling family in Oakland, Calif.

Selleaze played at Fresno City College last season and was named most valuable player of his league. The 6-foot-6, 200-pound wing was expected to contribute immediately at WSU, probably as a starter.

But Selleaze was forced to drop out of summer school at Oakland’s Merritt College when unforeseen circumstances mandated that he seek employment and become the breadwinner for his extended family, WSU coach Kevin Eastman said.

“We were hoping that things would work out as the summer went on, but he just can’t afford to do it right now,” Eastman said.

“He’s got more than just an immediate family to help out. Without getting into things that are really nobody’s business, it’s not just one person he’s supporting and it’s not just his family. There’s some extended family there.”

With classes set to begin Monday at WSU, Eastman and his staff will be hard-pressed to find another player with skills even remotely comparable to those of Selleaze.

According to a recent report in the Fresno Bee newspaper, Selleaze plans to re-enroll at Fresno City this fall and still wants to play basketball somewhere.

But he will have only one year of eligibility remaining under NCAA rules, which require a player to complete his playing career within a five-year window.

Selleaze played at Merritt immediately following high school, then sat out one season before playing at Fresno last year.

WSU’s loss of Selleaze comes only weeks after the departure of 6-6 wing Beau Archibald, who moved back to Utah after the death of his father.

Archibald’s departure had been expected for some time; Lynn Archibald, a prominent coach, had waged a public battle against cancer and his condition had deteriorated rapidly during last season.

Selleaze’s departure further puts Eastman’s program in a difficult situation.

“Is it tough for us? Yeah, but I mean, what are you supposed to do?” Eastman said. “Same with Beau’s situation. What are you supposed to do?

“Are you supposed to just put the basketball team in front of what you probably should be doing, which is being back home?

“It could have been very easy for me to go in there and try to turn his head around and put a guilt trip on him (Selleaze), for his scholarship.

“That’s not the right thing to do.”

Selleaze signed with the Cougars last winter, at which time there was no indication of any impending family crisis, Eastman said.

“With some people, it’s easy to say, ‘Well, gosh, can’t you look four years ahead versus one?”’ Eastman said. “No. With some, it’s not even one year, it’s getting to the next day.”

Including Selleaze and Archibald, the Cougars have lost five scholarship players during the last year. Donminic Ellison, Chris Scott and Tavares Mack also left WSU prematurely.

Remaining recruits are freshman Brian Stewart, a 6-10 center; junior Leif Nelson, a 6-11 center; junior Kabandany Kazadi, a 6-1 point guard; and junior Kojo Mensah-Bonsu, a 6-6 forward.

, DataTimes