"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Freshman Matt Mortensen dismissed from team

Freshman Matt Mortensen was dismissed from the men's basketball team effective immediately according to a press release issued by the Marquette Athletic Department. Bill Cords issued a very strong statement saying "We hold student-athletes in our programs to high standards as individuals, team members and representatives of the university. Matt’s actions were unacceptable. This is only the second time in my 19 years I’ve taken such an action. However, given the circumstances, I and the university had no choice.

The dismissal means the redshirt freshman will have to find a new home to play basketball next season. It also means an additional scholarship is available for Marquette for next season if Tom Crean wishes to sign another player or bank it for the year after.


"Matt's actions were unacceptable. This is only the second time in my 19 years I’ve taken such an action. However, given the circumstances, I and the university had no choice.”
-Bill Cords, Marquette Athletic Director
Mortensen was expected to play minimally this season coming off a redshirt season last year. He was a forward for Tom Crean's club and hailed from Provo, Utah.

Through a university spokesman, coach Tom Crean said: "I'm disappointed in Matt but supportive of Bill's decision."

Through a university spokesman, coach Tom Crean said: "I'm disappointed in Matt but supportive of Bill's decision."

Here is the complete Marquette Press Release

MORTENSEN DISMISSED FROM MEN’S BASKETBALL PROGRAM

MILWAUKEE, May 17 - Marquette red-shirt freshman Matt Mortensen (Provo, Utah/Timpview) will not have his scholarship renewed and has subsequently been dismissed from the men’s basketball program, Director of Athletics Bill Cords announced today.

Mortensen has rendered himself ineligible by NCAA rules.

“We hold student-athletes in our programs to high standards as individuals, team members and representatives of the university. Matt’s actions were unacceptable. This is only the second time in my 19 years I’ve taken such an action. However, given the circumstances, I and the university had no choice,” said Cords.

This situation is not related to academics.

No further comment will be available.


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MEDIA COVERAGE
Here is the AP coverage of the Mortensen dismissal.

Journal Sentinel Article

MarquetteHoops looks at what the newly opened scholarship means for Tom Crean's recruiting strategy.

One more..... for the commenters below, here's a link to the NCAA eligibility page - - knock yourselves out! :-)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can see that Cords said his actions were unacceptable, but what exactly did he do to get his dismissed from the team??

Anonymous said...

Yes! Inquiring minds want to know!

TB said...

we added a link for you guys.......refresh, take a look and have some fun :-)

Anonymous said...

You're saying that it was a violation of his NCAA eligibility?

As a redshirt? As a student-athlete?

For __________?__________ (infraction)?

TB said...

We're not saying its a 'violation of his NCAA eligibilty' . . . MU said it.

We have no idea what MM did.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your expedited coverage on this newsbreak!

Keep up the great work!

=D

An appreciative MU fan in CA!

Anonymous said...

If you guys figure out exactly what he did that would be great if you posted it, its really bugging me now to not know what his unacceptable actions were. Thanks, and way to keep us updated on some great stories!

Anonymous said...

From a very reliable source, I know it was that Matt was using some kind of illegal steroid. I was a student who saw him very often, and I must admit his physical maturing seemed unnatural even within a year.

Tony said...

Sorry about rehashing, digging around a bit...

http://luge.teamusa.org/athlete/athlete/1308 Is this the same guy?

Anonymous said...

No, 2005 was MU's Mortensen's freshman year. The person in the bio you linked to won a luge championship in 2005.