The Monmouth University men’s basketball team will have to play its season opener against Division 2 Caldwell Tuesday without its starting point guard due to what the school says is an investigation by the NCAA.
Potential rules infractions by Kavion McClain, a 5-8 senior transfer, are being reviewed by the NCAA and he will be out indefinitely, the school said Friday, Oct. 31.
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Nov 10, 2024; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs guard Silas Demary Jr. (5) dribbles against Texas Southern Tigers guard Kavion McClain (2) at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Here’s the statement released by Director of Athletics Jennifer Sansevero:
“The NCAA has notified Monmouth University of its investigation into potential rules infractions by Kavion McClain prior to his enrollment at Monmouth. He will be withheld from competition until a full review is completed by the NCAA. Kavion remains an active member of the Monmouth men’s basketball team and he will continue to participate in all other athletic activities during this investigation.”
At a scrimmage last week when McClain led with 19 points and four steals, head coach King Rice praised the feisty guard for his play leading up to the start of the season. He compared him to Justin Robinson, another 5-8 guard who ended up being Monmouth’s all-time scoring leader by the time he graduated.
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Before landing at Monmouth, he played junior college basketball, then a year at Abilene Christian and another year at Texas Southern.
“We’re very fortunate to have him,” Rice said Oct. 20. “That’s just college basketball now. He’s in the portal, we get on him, we didn’t have enough money for what his number was but he liked us so much, he worked with us and came down a little bit. Left some money on the table, had some really big time schools that were higher level than us, but he liked what we were doing and we got to a reasonable deal for him and he wanted to be with us… I don’t call people ‘like Justin Robinson’ lightly. This man, he’s going to fight for player of the year if we win enough games.”
Monmouth staff did not have anymore specifics about what prompted the NCAA probe.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth basketball transfer Kavion McClain out as NCAA investigates
