Don't look now, but Sunday's sudden dismissal of 6-foot-6 rising senior forward Juan Pattillo has made the Oklahoma Sooners frontline for next season much younger and far more inexperienced.The Sooners were already coming into the 2009-10 season with major questions marks in their frontcourt with the departure of All-American Blake Griffin and his brother Taylor Griffin to the NBA. But things became more uncertain with the removal of the athletic Pattillo from the equation.
Head coach Jeff Capel announced Sunday that Pattillo had been removed from the squad for violation of team rules. The speculation in Oklahoma is that the former junior college transfer was jettisoned because of academic issues. Capel declined to comment further.
Pattillo, who had some impressive moments sprinkled in with a lot of inconsistency last season, would have contended for one of the starting forward spots. OU will now have five scholarship players to contend for its frontline positions, including incoming freshmen Keith "Tiny" Gallon, Andrew Fitzgerald and Kyle Hardrick. Also figuring into the mix are seniors Ryan Wright and Orlando Allen, who have been role players the past couple seasons.
In Pattillo, the Sooners would have had an athletic big man who showed some ability at both ends of the floor last season as finisher and shot blocker. Few in Norman will forget his 15-point effort during the Sooners' loss to Kansas when Blake was out with a concussion or his 14-point, 10-rebound output in a win over Baylor.
Pattillo also certainly had his moments of inconsistency throughout the year, but he began the year expecting to redshirt after transferring in the College of Southern Idaho. He decided to come out of the redshirt in January.
Pattillo, who served a one-game suspension for the Sooners Feb. 28th game against Texas Tech, averaged 6.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 15 minutes per game last season.
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