Football loses leading tackler, Keasey, for next season

Junior middle linebacker Zak Keasey of the fooball team was declared academically ineligible yesterday evening in a press release by the University.

Keasey will be allowed to return to Princeton in the future, but there was no time specified for his return. It is certain however that he will be not be with the team for the 2003 season.

Despite the fact that Keasey was officially declared academically ineligible only yesterday, his roommate Josh White, a senior midfielder on the men's lacrosse team, said that Keasey has not been at school since the beginning of second semester.

Keasey is the second Princeton athlete to be declared academically ineligible since the start of this semester. Junior Spencer Gloger was suspended in the middle of the men's basketball season. At the time of his suspension, Gloger was the leading scorer on the team and fourth in the Ivy League.

Gloger was roommates with Keasey and White at the time of his suspension along with senior wide receiver Chisom Opara of the football team.

While the school gave no timeline on Keasey's return, they did say that Gloger would be eligible to join the team at the start of the Spring 2004 semester.

"We're very disappointed by what has occurred," head coach Roger Hughes said. "Certainly, we will miss his [Keasey's] athleticism. We look forward to his return to the team in the future." Keasey will be a huge loss for the Tigers as he was the team's leading tackler for the second year in a row, recording 88 takedowns, 54 unassisted. In additon, Keasey was a first team All-Ivy selection for the first time in his career.

He was counted on to play a large role this season as he was the lone returning linebacker who had any significant experience. As a sophomore, Keasey was aided by the presence of Bob Farrell '02 and Chris Roser-Jones '02, who are widely considered two of the best backers to ever come through the program.

Keasey played in all ten games this year for the Tigers and anchored a defense that gave up 23.6 points per game.

"I don't think that Keasey's absence has affected our attitude," sophomore running back Brandon Benson said. "We have a lot of good players coming in to back him up. No doubt we are going to miss him but we have a lot of experience on defense."

In addition to Keasey and Gloger, Harvard's Patrick Harvey was also declared academically ineligible in the middle of his senior campaign. Harvey, like Gloger was the leading scorer on his team.

Keasey's suspension could possibly add more fuel to the debate over the seven-week moratorium that has already been raging with the highly publicized suspensions of Gloger and Harvey.