Sept. 9, 2008
AUSTIN, Texas -- University of Texas sophomore guard Dogus Balbay will miss UT's season opener against Stetson on Nov. 14 due to a violation of the NCAA's amateurism rules which occurred prior to his enrollment at Texas, the school announced Tuesday.
The NCAA determined that Balbay participated in a total of 11 games for a professional team in Turkey during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. The NCAA penalized Balbay on a 1-for-1 basis, meaning that each game Balbay played professionally in Turkey equaled one game that he would be withheld from competition at Texas.
During his freshman season at Texas, Balbay injured his right knee during a pickup game on Oct. 4 and had surgery on Oct. 30. He was medically cleared to play prior to UT's game at Texas Tech on March 1. Since Balbay did not participate in UT's final 10 games of the 2007-08 season (beginning with the game at Texas Tech), he served 10 of his 11-game suspension last year.
