BASKETBALL might not be seeing the back of Ricardo Yearwood after all.
The on-court incident that led to his life ban could be heading to court, as sources out of the Station Hill Cavaliers camp have indicated that the club intends to appeal the Barbados Amateur Basketball Association’s (BABA) stiff ruling.
The BABA’s executive council was made aware of the likely legal action not long after slapping Yearwood with the lengthy sanction for drop-kicking Cougars point guard Keith Mayers in a Premier League contest last week.
Head coach Adrian Craigwell confirmed his club’s aim to contest the ruling but wasn’t prepared to go any further, saying the club was under legal advice not to speak publicly about the matter.
But Yearwood’s life ban isn’t the only disciplinary decision Station Hill has taken exception to, as the Cavs believe they’ve also been hard-done by the recent suspensions of Premier League players Kelvin Patterson, Andrew Alleyne and Errol “Flash” Pollard.
“We will be appealing all of these suspensions but we have been advised not to speak any further,” said Craigwell.
The team’s most dominant offensive force, Patterson is likely to miss the remainder of the season, having been hit with a three-month suspension from all basketball activities for what seems to be continual verbal abuse of referees and officials during and after games.
His long-standing front-court mate Andrew Alleyne – arguably the country’s greatest player of all time – and Pollard have been suspended for the team’s next two games after being found guilty of a similar offence at the end of their contest against Jackson.
These sanctions are just the latest of a line of issues plaguing the defending league champs in what has become a tumultuous season for one of basketball’s most decorated clubs.
It all started with a defaulted game to Tridents before the Cavs dropped four of the next five contests to fall to a league-worst 2-5 record.
During the swoon, Station Hill suffered a rare three-game losing streak, highlighted by defeats to league minnows Cougars and Patriots.
But the peak of the Cavs’ issues came in that loss to Cougars less than two weeks ago when Yearwood responded to an elbow from Mayers by drop-kicking the point guard.
Yearwood was subsequently called to a hearing with the sport’s disciplinary committee on Monday before the BABA imposed the life ban two nights later.
However, Station Hill immediately notified the executive council that they will not willingly accept the ruling within moments of being informed of the decision.
