Williams, others
will sit out season

The Long Beach State men's basketball team suffered a mild heart attack with the announcement Tuesday of two more players forgoing the season as medical redshirts.

Forward James "Rudy" Williams, called the "heart and soul" of the team by Head Coach Wayne Morgan, is still suffering from excruciating pain from last year's surgery on both of his tibias. Also sitting out the season will be forward Vance Lawhorn who has not fully recovered from off-season knee scope surgery after transferring from Mineral Area Junior College.

The pair join junior Tadeu Souza who was already announced as a redshirt for the season after his own reconstructive knee surgery in the off-season.

"This set of circumstances puts our program in a state of extreme adversity," said Morgan in a statement. "Although it is a devastating blow to lose three out of our five frontcourt people, we still feel our remaining players will have an extremely strong resolve and do everything they can to be successful."

Losing three powerful players leaves the 49ers with only three players over 6-foot-6. Former 49er Rory Clark has rejoined the team and will join junior Travis Reed and senior Grant Stone as the only big bodies available to mount an inside game. The losses will likely mean more playing time for freshmen forwards Kevin Roberts and Larry Johnson.

Williams tried to play through his pain early in the season, appearing in all six games. The big man had his best game of the season in Saturday's loss to Stanford, scoring 13 points and pulling down five rebounds.

Lawhorn only appeared in the first two games of the season, scoring five points in 12 minutes of action.

Caroline Limuti/ Daily Forty-Niner

James "Rudy" Williams