University of North Carolina Athletics
Basketball's Vasco Evtimov to Sit Out an Additional Seven Games
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
December 17, 1998
CHAPEL HILL -- University of North Carolina forward Vasco Evtimov will have to sit out an additional seven basketball games in a ruling today by the NCAA. The increase is associated with an additional number of games that were determined Evtimov had played in with the Pau-Orthez team while serving a mandatory stint in the French military.
It was earlier thought that Evtimov had played in only 16 contests. In fact, a statistics sheet showing 16 games with Pau-Orthez had been furnished to UNC and the NCAA. The Tar Heel sophomore had initially estimated the number was somewhere between 20-22.
The NCAA staff and the institution determined that Evtimov had played in 26 games for the Pau-Orthez team and 10 games with the Pau-Orthez Hopeful's Team, which is comparable to a junior varsity team and level of competition.
The NCAA determined Evtimov must sit out the games for UNC because it felt he gained a competitive advantage playing on a team on which there were professional players, even though he received no compensation. He was directed to play for Pau-Orthez by the French Basketball Federation as the only means by which a person in the French military could try out for the French National Team.
Evtimov will be eligible to play at NC State on Jan. 16.
