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Purdue suspends A.J. Hammons for season opener

A.J. Hammons

Purdue center A.J. Hammons (20) dunks in front of Michigan forward Jordan Morgan (52) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game on Wednesday, March 6, 2013, in West Lafayette, Ind. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

AP

Purdue center A.J. Hammons has a chance to be one of the best big men in the Big Ten this season, but his year will get off to a late start.

Hammons was suspended for a violation of team rules on Monday.

“A.J. has been suspended for the first three games of this season for conduct not representative of this program or university,” head coach Matt Painter said in a statement. “We expect the young men in our program to meet certain standards, and they must be held accountable when those standards are not met.”

Painter isn’t exactly being clear when he says Hammons was suspended for three games, because two of those games are Purdue’s exhibitions. The only actual game that he’ll miss is on opening night, when Purdue takes on Northern Kentucky on November 8th.

Hammons averaged 10.6 points and 6.0 boards as a freshman last season.

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