NCAA grants Texas Tech center an extra half-season

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech center Esmir Rizvic, who suffered a fractured eye socket when an opposing player elbowed him, will remain eligible for another half-season because of the injury.

Rizvic did not play the rest of the season after being struck by Oklahoma's Longar Longar in the Red Raiders' Big 12 opener on Jan. 5. Longar, who was trying to create room against Rizvic's defense along the sideline, was called for an intentional foul and suspended for two games.

"We're pleased with the outcome," Texas Tech coach Bob Knight said in a news release.

Under a waiver granted by the NCAA Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee, Rizvic will be given back the 50 percent of the season lost due to the foul, allowing him to play half an additional season during his fifth year with the Red Raiders.

The committee had never granted an athlete a partial season of additional eligibility because of an injury, said Kevin Lennon, the NCAA's vice president for membership services. The unique circumstances of Rizvic's situation resulted in the the waiver.

The opposing player, Oklahoma's Longar Longar, was assessed an intentional foul and suspended two games by the Big 12 for the elbow in the conference opener on Jan. 5. The severity of the injury was also taken into account, Lennon said.

It has not been decided how Rizvic will play half a season, Tech spokesman Randy Farley said.

Rizvic, who started 11 games and averaged 3.8 points per game, is entering his senior year this fall. He transferred to Tech from a junior college in Florida in 2006.