Two starters for the men’s basketball team have been declared ineligible for the fall semester, the athletic department announced Friday. Junior guard Mark Tyndale and senior center Wayne Marshall will be forced to sit out at least the season’s first six games, before they can potentially be reinstated by the NCAA for the spring semester.
The players’ absence leaves the Owls with just one returning starter – senior guard Dustin Salisbery. Former starters Mardy Collins and Antywane Robinson exhausted their collegiate eligibility last season. Collins was drafted into the NBA by the New York Knicks.
Coach Fran Dunphy would not guarantee that the players would retain their starting positions if they are re-instated.
“I’m a new coach in this situation,” Dunphy said, “so, everyone starts from scratch. So we’ll see how they start preparing from the start of the season. Everybody has to win their jobs.”
Tyndale, a two-year starter, averaged 10.9 points per game last season. The 6-5, 210 pound guard led the team in rebounding with 5.1 boards a game and ranked second in assists and steals.
Tyndale often thrilled fans and frustrated former coach John Chaney with his intense style of play. Chaney would pull Tyndale from the court when he felt the guard needed to slow down and play more calmly.
Marshall started 17 games last season after battling spells of dizziness for much of the season. The 6-1, 285-pound center totaled 7.2 points and four rebounds a game last season and provided the Owls with a much needed interior presence upon his return in late December.
Dunphy said he could not discuss the requirements the two players must meet to be reinstated.
Salisbery, a three-year starter, averaged 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game last season. He and senior forward Dion Dacons, are captains. Dunphy will be forced to fill the remaining four starting positions with eight returning bench players and freshmen Luis Guzman and Ryan Brooks.
Collectively, the returning bench players (guards Chris Clark and Semaj Inge, forwards Dionte Christmas, Dacons and DeShone Kirkendoll, and centers Anthony Ivory and Sergio Olmos) averaged 1.4 points, 0.22 assists and 1.1 rebounds per game last season.
Dunphy said the team had understood for some time now that Tyndale and Marshall would not be eligible for the first half.
“They’re working hard,” Dunphy said. “They’re working hard at their conditioning skills.”
The Owls open at Kent State Nov. 21.
BILL KENNEDY, 68, former OWL
Former two-sport All-America athlete Bill Kennedy died Thursday in an automobile accident in West Balm Beach, Fla. Kennedy, nicknamed “Pickles,” was 68.
Kennedy played both baseball and basketball at Temple, leading the latter team to the 1958 Final Four. As an All-American in 1959-60, Kennedy averaged 22.2 points per game. He ranks 18th all-time with 1,468 points.
The Philadelphia Warriors drafted Kennedy in the second round of the 1960 NBA Draft. He played with the team during the 1960-61 season.
On the diamond, the centerfielder batted .414 as a junior and was named All-America. The season was also the first for former coach Skip Wilson, who retired after the 2005 season. Kennedy signed with the Pirates organization
as a free agent in 1960.
John Kopp can be reached at john.kopp@temple.edu.
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