Sophomore center Kevin Cates, who started 25 of 30 games as afreshman, announced Monday that he is leaving the men's basketballteam because of an unspecified medical condition.
Cates had not practiced or played with the team this yearbecause of the ailment. He will remain enrolled at Ball State butwill voluntarily relinquish his scholarship after thissemester.
The sophomore said he is disappointed and thanked those whoexpressed concern over his condition.
"I want people to know this condition is not life threatening,"Cates said in a press release. "However, basketball and physicalactivity contribute to the condition. The decision was difficultbecause of the love I have for basketball. It was a decision I hadto make for my health to improve."
In the same release, head coach Tim Buckley said he and the teamwere disappointed.
"This is a very personal decision situation for Kevin and hisfamily," Buckley said.
Buckley said last week that he was anticipating a meeting withCates in the near future and hoped that the meeting would produce"what Kevin wants."
Cates averaged 3.4 points and 5.1 rebounds in playing every gameof his first season. He was forced into a starting role whenforward Theron Smith was sidelined with a knee injury just threegames into the season. He scored a season-high eight points fourtimes, while his top rebounding performances were 14 againstMarshall and 13 against IUPUI.
Both Buckley and Cates declined further comment on the issue.
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