Following an apparently deliberate pregame collision with the Toledo marching band, Jamaal Bass was suspended for Northern Illinois’ game with Bowling Green this past Tuesday.
Upon further review, that suspension will extend beyond that single game.
In joint press releases, both the school and the MAC announced that Bass would be suspended for the next two games as well. The Huskies, tied for the MAC West lead with the Rockets, will face Ball State and Eastern Michigan in the final two games of the regular season.
“After making the immediate determination to suspend Jamaal for the Bowling Green game, we received additional information and were able to conduct a more thorough review of the incident at Toledo,” NIU athletic director Jeff Compher said in a statement. “That review prompted us to take this action.”
“After further investigation into this matter we feel the additional two-game suspension of Jamaal Bass is appropriate,” commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher said in the conference’s release. “We concur with the action implemented by Northern Illinois University. This suspension will end up representing one-fourth of the regular season and we support the collective suspension as appropriate.”
The redshirt freshman, who has started seven of the nine games in which he’s played this season, would likely be reinstated for any postseason games the Huskies would play in.