There was a hint of disgust in Kevin Eastman’s voice Thursday night as he briefly discussed the suspension of point guard Donminic Ellison in the wake of Washington State’s 70-63 loss to Oregon.

The Cougars’ second-year coach probably hoped Ellison had been huddled near a radio back in Pullman, listening to UO’s late-game trashing of the teammates he once again let down.

“Hopefully, a lesson was learned tonight,” Eastman said, “and I think that’s probably enough on that.”

The official statement released by WSU on Ellison’s status Thursday morning said the 5-foot-10 junior was suspended for at least two games for academic reasons.

“But right now, I’m not even sure suspension is the right word,” Eastman added. “He (Ellison) just has to take care of some personal things. He’s got to make a personal commitment that his education is important to him.”

WSU is on semester break and Eastman refused to detail Ellison’s academic problems because of privacy laws. But he did indicate that he made his decision to leave Ellison at home this week after first-semester grades were released.

Eastman said Ellison, who is averaging 15.6 points and 5.2 assists per game, is eligible by university standards - but not his.

“It (the suspension) was my call,” he explained. “The decision was an easy one, because I know what’s right and wrong. To me, part of coaching - if you’re man enough to be a true coach - is to look beyond wins and losses and do what’s right for the young people you are coaching.”

With senior forward Mark Hendrickson out of action indefinitely with a broken hand, the loss of Ellison left Eastman with only eight scholarship players to use against the Ducks.

And suddenly, what was once a sleek basketball machine, was reduced to a pile of spare parts.

Ellison’s suspension is not his first. He was held out of an exhibition game in Richland last season because of academic shortcomings and missed one game later in the year because of a curfew violation.

He and Tavares Mack were also suspended for WSU’s opening exhibition game this season because of a minors-in-possession incident over the summer.

Despite leaving his teammates in the lurch once again, there seemed to be no real feeling of disdain among Cougars players.

“It’s just that he didn’t hand over his school work,” Isaac Fontaine said in defense of Ellison. “Our team still loves Donminic. We support him not matter what he does.

“The team’s not like, ‘Oh, dang, it’s Dom’s fault.’ That’s not the case at all. We all support Donminic and we want him to come back as soon as possible.”

Senior Shamon Antrum wasn’t quite as supportive, but he refused to say anything negative about his teammate.

“You better ask Coach Eastman about it,” he said. “I don’t want to get in the middle of that.”

Eastman said he will decide next week about Ellison’s status for the Cougars’ Jan. 21 matchup against Washington in Seattle.

, DataTimes