Aztecs' Habel kicked off team

By: MICHAEL KLITZING - Staff Writer | Saturday, August 25, 2007 12:04 AM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- The strange odyssey that is Jerome Habel's career has taken another twist, as the standout forward has been dismissed from the San Diego State men's basketball team for unspecified violations of team policies.

"I think that everybody here has a responsibility, first to themselves, then to San Diego State, and then to San Diego State basketball," head coach Steve Fisher said on Friday. "Jerome didn't live up to his responsibilities, and as a result of that, he has been dismissed from the team."

The 6-foot-8, 200-pound senior was expected to be one of the team's best players this season after the departure of senior stars Brandon Heath and Mohamed Abukar.

Fisher declined to discuss details of the dismissal, but said it was not related to academics and involved nothing that would have prevented him from returning to play this season.

Attempts to reach Habel were unsuccessful.

A lean athletic specimen known for his thunderous dunks, Habel was an instant fan favorite with the Cox Arena student section. He led the Aztecs last season in rebounds per game (6.2) and blocks (41), and was the top returner in scoring average (10.9 points per game).

The dismissal is but another chapter in the well-documented vagabond hardwood existence for the Rockville, Md., native. San Diego State was his seventh school in seven years.

According to a 2005 story in the Gazette newspaper in Maryland, Habel was known by former coaches as possessing a volatile personality, which one described as a "Jekyll-and-Hyde thing." He left Maryland's Paint Branch High during his junior year, then bounced to Whitman High and Washington D.C. Marriott Hospitality Public Charter High.

Habel orally committed to play at Florida State, but did not qualify academically. From there, he attended Palm Beach (Fla.) Community College, Division III St. Mary's in Maryland and San Bernardino Valley College, where he placed himself on the Aztecs' radar.

Ominously, Habel was suspended for the first four games of his Aztecs' career for violating team rules.

"He was not your typical incoming freshman recruit, so yeah, we knew that he had had a past where he had bounced around some," Fisher said. "That being said, this was a situation where we felt it would not only be good for San Diego State basketball, but we could be good for him.

"We thought it would be a win-win situation, and unfortunately it did not turn out to be."

Habel's options now include sitting out a season and transferring to another Division I school, playing immediately for an NAIA program or attempting to latch on in the professional ranks.

His dismissal leaves the Aztecs at a crossroads.

Habel and 6-8, 272-pound Marquette transfer Ryan Amoroso appeared to give them ample size in the paint. Now, the team may have to employ a quicker, smaller lineup around Amoroso, as Kyle Spain and Lorrenzo Wade ---- also a possible shooting guard ---- seem to be the logical choices to man the forward spots.

That is, unless players like incoming freshman forwards Tim Shelton and Billy White or 6-10 center Chris Lamb are ready to contribute and give the Aztecs more frontcourt flexibility.

"It really puts us in a potential size issue," Fisher said. "So now our goal is to say, 'What can we do to negate that? What can we do to be harder to guard?' "

Regardless, with Habel out of the picture, the onus is on Wade, Spain and junior point guard Richie Williams to be the Aztecs' catalysts.

"They will have to play at a level and a consistency that will (show) who we think and they think they are," Fisher said. "The three of them will be the cornerstones of this team."

Contact staff writer Michael Klitzing at (760) 740-6643 or mrklitzing@gmail.com.