Updated: September 9, 2013, 3:13 PM ET By Jeff Goodman | ESPN.com
UConn has suspended senior big man Tyler Olander indefinitely for a violation of team rules. The school announced the suspension Monday. The 6-foot-9, 230-pound Olander started 26 games last season and averaged 4.3 points and 3.7 rebounds. The Huskies, under first-year coach Kevin Ollie, won 20 games but were ineligible for the NCAA tournament because of poor past academic performance.
Olander was also suspended in March after being arrested and charged with trespassing in Florida during spring break.
The Huskies have a chance to get back to the NCAA tournament this season with the return of a strong perimeter group that includes Shabazz Napier, Ryan Boatright and Omar Calhoun. However, the frontcourt has been a concern. Olander was expected to start again, largely because the Huskies remain thin up front. Ollie and his staff signed talented forward Kentan Facey, but the Jamaican native has yet to be cleared by the NCAA.
Olander was arrested and charged with DUI, according to Neill Ostrout of the Journal-Inquirer:
Olander was pulled over on Route 195 by state police at 10:49 Saturday night. He was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol/drugs, operating (or towing) an unregistered motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle in violation of classification. Police said Olander failed field sobriety tests given at the scene......
When Tyler Olander was reduced to the role of spectator with the UConn men's basketball team, he did not need to look far for some friendly advice.
Ryan Olander did not play in the same media spotlight during his four seasons at Fairfield University, but he knew what life was like as a student-athlete and offered some advice for his younger brother.
"He told me to keep my head up, take care of business, do everything they ask me to and hit your academics hard," Tyler said. "(He added) prove to everybody that you want to be here and that you deserve to be here."
Even before he was reinstated by coach Kevin Ollie on Oct. 3 following a suspension for being arrested for driving without a license and a DUI (which was later dropped), the younger Olander tried to follow those words of wisdom........
