Three BYU Players to Redshirt the 2000-01 Basketball Season

PROVO -- BYU Head Basketball Coach Steve Cleveland announced Friday that three players on this year's team -- Garner Meads, Jesse Pinegar and Bart Jepsen -- plan to redshirt during the 2000-01 season.

Meads and Pinegar are both freshmen members of last year's top-20 recruiting class while Jepsen is a sophomore who returned from an LDS Church mission this summer. All three players have experienced injuries that have factored into the decision to redshirt.

Meads, a McDonald's High School All-American forward, has had multiple injuries impede his ability to practice. A knee surgery limited his basketball until late summer and a punctured lung sustained in only the team's fifth practice has kept the 6-foot-8 forward from any physical activity for the past month.

"After meeting with Garner and his family we have determined it is in his best interest to redshirt this season," Cleveland said. "He has not been able to condition because of his lung injury and has also missed nearly all of our practices. He plans to leave on his mission in February, which means he will not enroll in school for the Winter semester."

Pinegar, who was a high school teammate of Meads' at Salt Lake City's Brighton High School, suffered a stress fracture in his left foot last week and has a sesmoid (inflamed bone) problem on his right foot. While he will be able to condition and lift weights, the 6-foot-9 forward will not be able to jump and practice for 4-6 weeks.

"Jesse is going to redshirt and recover from these recent injuries," Cleveland said. "He is an extremely skilled offensive player who is going to be a big part of our program. But right now it is to his benefit to get healthy and take advantage of an additional year of weight training."

A 6-foot-9 forward, Jepsen has planned on redshirting this year since returning from his mission this summer. While serving his two-year mission, he sustained a severe broken leg injury.