When the Ball State University's men's basketball team heads to Indianapolis to take on No. 14 Butler University tonight, it will be without the team's second tallest player. The athletic communications office announced Tuesday that freshman Zack Garcia had left the team.
"Zack has decided to return to California to be closer to his family," coach Ronny Thompson said in a press release. "All of us in the BSU program wish nothing but the best for Zack and his future."
Garcia was one of three Thompson recruits, along with Ahmaad Cook and junior Micah Rollin, that hail from California.
Garcia played one minute during the season-opening blowout victory over Northern Colorado.
At 6-foot-8, and one of two players listed as centers on the official lineup, Garcia was asked not to dress for the last two home games.
Thompson declined to comment further on Garcia, other than it wouldn't effect the team's rotation or practicing.
The remaining Cardinals (3-4) will look to beat their second Indiana opponent in five days when they face Butler at 7 p.m. today. The Bulldogs (9-0) are among the elite teams in the nation, having won the preseason NIT and with wins over the University of Notre Dame, Indiana University and Gonzaga University.
"They have a mature team, they have a team that's been together," Thompson said. "They have a team that understands their system. They're playing very well together."
Thompson added that his team hopes to bring defensive pressure to the Bulldogs to try and get them out of their rhythm.
"They keep four shooters on the court at all times," he said. "They have good ball handlers, and when you trap them, they have skills that they can pass out of it and the person they're passing to has offensive ability, so it's not like you're passing it to someone who's stuck."
While Ball State's players and coaching staff consider themselves to be a defensive minded team, Thompson said guarding Butler is going to be tough.
"We're going to have to keep our defensive concentration for 40 minutes," Thompson said. "You have to give everyone just as much attention as the next. Because they can get it going.
"It's not a consistent thread in terms of who can kill you, they've got a team of guys who can kill you. And that's what makes them so valuable."
The Bulldogs have dominated the recent years of the rivalry, winning five of the last six match-ups against the Cardinals, and Ball State doesn't have a win in Hinkle Fieldhouse since 1994.
"I don't look at it as being any more important than any other game that we play," Thompson said.
He did, however, admit he is interested in being in Hinkle as a fan, as the court was a historic feature in Indiana basketball and in the movie "Hoosiers." Thompson said he has never been to Hinkle.
While Thompson doesn't feel any greater sense of purpose for the game, at least one player from the team does. Senior D'Andre Peyton got a text message from a former AAU teammate and current Butler player Brandon Crone.
"He said he was going to beat us," Peyton said. "I sent him one back, but I don't think I can say what I said back."
The Cardinals will also face Valparaiso University and Indiana before the month is over.
"It's good to beat those schools, because they recruited you," Peyton said. "And some of them didn't recruit me, so."
Thompson said that if they hope to beat the Bulldogs, Peyton will have to play a major role.
"We're going to do very well again," Thompson said. "And we're going to need Micah not to be baited into quick fouls. We're going to definitely need to keep him on the floor."
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