Sene to miss 1st 3 games

Just six days from the season opener and the start of the Tony Bennett era, the Virginia men’s basketball program has suffered a big loss.

On Saturday, Bennett announced that he has suspended sophomore center Assane Sene for the first three games of the season. The 7-footer from Senegal is being disciplined for “conduct detrimental to the team,” according to a press release issued by the school.

Sene will miss Friday’s season opener at John Paul Jones Arena against Longwood, plus Virginia’s Nov. 16 game at South Florida and its Nov. 19 home game against Rider.

“We have expectations for the individuals in our program that Assane has not met,” Bennett said. “He will not play in our closed scrimmage with St. John’s on Sunday and in the first three games of the regular season, but will practice with the team. My hope is Assane will learn from this situation as we move forward.”

Sene, as reported in Friday’s edition of The Daily Progress, had missed a team practice on Thursday due to personal reasons.

Sene played in 22 games last season, starting 16, and averaged 2.5 points and 4.6 rebounds a game. He led the team with 35 blocked shots, which ranked fifth in the ACC.

Sene, because of his size and shotblocking ability, was considered to be a strong candidate for this season’s starting lineup. His loss for any prolonged period would be a major loss to the team.

Without Sene, Bennett could turn to senior Jerome Meyinsse to play center, or possibly go with a smaller lineup featuring junior Mike Scott or senior Jamil Tucker in the middle.

With John Brandenburg transferring to Colgate over the summer, Virginia is thin at the center position.