Cobb back on court with scout team

Sorry, this is not the football post that LTP promised yesterday. I am still working on that.

So let us turn the focus to basketball since we have a game tonight to keep an eye out for (Penn State tonight at 7 p.m. CT on ESPNU). LTP had a post with a little more historical perspective on the basketball team’s “troubles.”

What we do have for sure is some good news for NU.

JerShon Cobb has returned to the court and is playing on the practice squad, imitating the opponent’s best player. He spoke with the media for the first time since his season-long suspension yesterday and had good news to report.

As Neil Hayes of the Chicago Sun-Times reports, Cobb said he had his best academic quarter in the fall and he is just happy to be back on the court and able to play — even if it is just practice.

 

When something you’ve been doing your whole life is taken away from you, it’s hard,” said Cobb, who is serving a seasonlong academic suspension. “When you think you can help in a lot of different ways, it’s very hard.

Certainly Cobb would be a big help right now with Northwestern without Drew Crawford, prolonged injuries to Nikola Cerina and Sanjay Lumpkin and a slew of freshmen getting massive amounts of playing time. As Hayes points out, this season is quickly becoming about developing the freshmen and building toward next season.

You do not want to pack in the season only two games into the conference season though. That is what makes tonight’s game so vital. Penn State represents the first team NU has faced in its Big Ten schedule that is not ranked in the top-10. It is very hard to judge this young team up against the best the nation has to offer. Tonight we will get a better sense of who this Northwestern team is.

It is good to hear that Cobb is taking care of his academics and doing a very good job. It seems like the suspension and the quarter away from the team was very good for him. Hopefully he will find that balance and be a big contributor next season.