Is That A Basketball Under Your Jersey Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?

Dontrelle Willis earned some kudos in the press for pitching and winning a game hours before his wife gave birth to their daughter earlier this week. That's nothing. A member of the Syracuse woman's basketball team (the Orangewomen?) had a baby last Thursday at an hospital in the city less than two months after starting at forward. Fantasia Goodwin didn't tell any of the coaches or trainers about being in the family way until just before the final game of the season February 25 against Cincinnati. Goodwin, a junior transfer from Monroe College in the Bronx,  was held out of the lineup for that game, the only one she didn't start all season for the 9-20 team. It's not that unusual for women athletes to compete while pregnant and part of the reason is that many universities don't have a policy in place to deal with pregnancies and athletes fear losing their scholarships.

"We have got to protect their scholarship," Sorensen said. "If we have a situation where we're asking or requiring an athlete to step forward and say she's pregnant, but it's going to result in her scholarship getting yanked, then of course nobody's going to step forward because they stand to lose everything."

One Louisville hoopster played until she was eight months pregnant without letting anyone in on her condition. Goodwin scored 14 points in 28 minutes in her last game on Feb. 24 and averaged 12 points and 6.8 rebounds for the season. Those aren't bad numbers at all, until you realize that she was playing for two.

Comments

[The Big Picture]

tell me gerry mcnamara's the dad. that'd be sweeeet!

[Dave]

I wouldn't be surprised if the NCAA put some pencil pusher on the case to figure the moment of conception and then called a hasty press conference to take away all of the Orangeladies wins from that point on. Why? Six people on the court should have led to multiple T's. Plus I'm pretty sure the NCAA will frown upon Syracuse footing the bill for Fantasia to eat for two all those months. I mean, she's allowed to eat because she's on scholarship, but the kid? Did somebody say "improper benefit?"