Memphis basketball coach John Calipari announced yesterday that sophomore forward Kareem Cooper has been suspended for violating team rules.
Cooper had missed practice since last week due to "personal matters."
"How long (the suspension) will be, at this point, I don't know," Calipari said. "I'll probably deal with it in another week or two.
"I'm not going to be specific...it's like anything else. I'm here to help, but you draw the line and say, 'This is what we do here.'"
Calipari said that an opportunity for Cooper to return to the team would be decided "in a couple of weeks."
The 6-10, 290-pound forward played in 28 games last season, starting against Cincinnati. He averaged 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds and shot 84 percent from the free throw line.
He was arrested last season on Jan. 23 on marijuana charges. He missed four games because of the incident.
Cooper entered preseason practice as the apparent backup to Joey Dorsey.
PRACTICE NOTES:
Calipari said the team is shaping up well - almost too well for his liking - for The U of M's Thursday night exhibition game against LeMoyne-Owen.
"We're not supposed to be this good this early," he said. Calipari said at times it seems the team is playing at a Jan. 28-type level rather than an early November pace.
"The young guys are so responsive in practice every day," he said. He noted freshmen Willie Kemp and Hashim Bailey are progressing well.
With another deep team poised to dominate Conference USA again, Calipari has several options in terms of substitutions and lineups.
"I might play these five the first four or five minutes of the game and then the next five the next few minutes," he said, noting the platoon system might only be used in the exhibition games.
The Tigers open the regular season Nov. 16 against Jackson State before heading to the Maui Classic to play Oklahoma on Nov. 20.
-With quotes from Kendall Jones
