by Bill DiFilippo / @bflip33
One of the Big Ten’s best big men will get a late start to this season…kind of.
Purdue suspended star center AJ Hammons for the first game of its 2013-14 campaign against Northern Kentucky on November 8. Hammons will also sit for the team’s two exhibition games prior to the season against Indianapolis and Wayne State.
Purdue coach Matt Painter won’t say exactly what Hammons did, only that he committed a “violation of team rules.”
From The Indianapolis Star:
“A.J. has been suspended for the first three games of this season for conduct not representative of this program or university,” coach Matt Painter said in the release. “We expect the young men in our program to meet certain standards, and they must be held accountable when those standards are not met.”
Hammons is expected to be one of the premier centers in the Big Ten this season. As a freshman last year, the former four-star recruit averaged 10.6 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks per game for the 16-18 Boilermakers.
