In a press release Thursday afternoon, Temple announced that senior guard Lynn Greer III will miss the first nine games of the season due to NCAA rules violations that occurred “while he was attending his previous NCAA institution.”
Greer III transferred to Temple last spring from St. Joe’s, where he averaged 10.9 points and 3.7 assists per game.
The release also noted that assistant coach Chris Clark will be suspended for “providing impermissible benefits to student-athletes” and that the longtime Temple assistant will return Dec. 11.
Prior to joining Adam Fisher’s staff, Clark worked under former head coaches Fran Dunphy and Aaron McKie and played for Dunphy and the late Hall of Fame coach John Chaney at Temple.
“The Temple men’s basketball program will support Lynn and Chris through their suspensions and will welcome them back in December,” Fisher said in the release. “We acknowledge that they made these mistakes and it is unfortunate, but they are part of our family and we will get through this together.”
Thursday’s release said the suspensions of Greer III and Clark were separate and unrelated matters. It also did not make mention of former Temple point guard Hysier Miller’s dismissal from the Virginia Tech program, where he transferred following last season. While Virginia Tech only said Miller was released “due to circumstances prior to his enrollment at Virginia Tech,” Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde reported that Miller’s dismissal was related to the U.S. Integrity investigation last spring that took note of unusual gambling activity on Temple games.
Temple is set to open its season Monday, Nov. 4 at the Liacouras Center against Sacred Heart.
Greer III would be eligible to return for Temple's Dec. 15 game at Hofstra, which would be the Owls' 10th game of the season. In his absence, Fisher and his staff can turn to guards Quante Berry and New Mexico transfer Jamal Mashburn Jr. for ball-handling responsibilities.
In an interview with OwlScoop.com earlier this week, Mashburn Jr. said he's been handling the ball in practice.
"A lot more, a lot more," said Mashburn Jr., who was named a preseason American Athletic Conference first-team selection earlier this month. "Just calling plays, calling sets, where we play out a concept. So it's really free flowing and putting dudes into certain specific spots, and that helps me learn the game at a rate that is very fast, and it's great because I need to play the one and obviously play the two, but I feel like you can put me anywhere. I'm gonna figure it out. That's how I've always felt."
