Thursday, Feb. 21, 2002 | 10:17 a.m.
Linda Frohlich knew she loved playing college basketball. But until her recent two-game suspension, she didn't realize just how much.
"Once you get it taken away, you appreciate the game that much more," the 6-foot-2 senior All-America candidate from Oldendorf, Germany, said after practice on Wednesday afternoon. "Sometimes you might have a tendency to complain or not be happy with certain situations. But once it's taken away, it's 'uh-oh.' I'm very excited to be back."
The poster (and billboard) girl of Lady Rebel basketball was forced to sit out two key Mountain West games while the NCAA looked into the expenses she received while playing for the German National team. Teammate Petra Glaser received an eight-game suspension for playing with professional players in Germany but Frohlich, UNLV's all-time leading scorer and a two-time Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.
UNLV (20-4, 8-3) managed to win both games without Frohlich, including a stunningly one-sided 71-59 upset of 17th-ranked Colorado State last Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack. Still, Frohlich said it wasn't easy sitting, watching and wondering if and when she'd be able to return the court.
"The toughest part?" Frohlich said. "That was the fact that none (of the NCAA allegations) were true. There was nothing that I had done to get punished for. That was the frustrating thing and what made me angry. (But) I knew God had a plan. But every time I started to think about how unfair it was ... that's what got me."
Frohlich and Glaser were informed of their suspensions on Feb. 8 just hours before the team left for the airport and a flight to San Diego for a game against San Diego State.
"It was really a shock," Frohlich said. "I couldn't believe it."
"That was difficult to tell Linda and Petra," Lady Rebels head coach Regina Miller said. "There were a lot of tears shed in the locker room that day. But the whole team rallied around them."
In fact, one of the positives to come out of the suspensions was the fact the remaining Lady Rebels seemed to take their games to a higher level despite playing without two key starters. Players wore wristbands with Frohlich's and Glaser's numbers on them and also put those numbers on their shoes.
"Maybe that was the reason (it happened)," Frohlich said. "Maybe it was for us to bond even more and to get the will to play for something. Our team pulled together and went out and took care of business and I think that will come back to help us down the road. It was great that some of our other players got to be in the spotlight. I've always wanted that. It's just unfortunate that it took this situation (with the NCAA) for everybody to realize just how good our whole team is."
Frohlich, who is averaging a double-double (22.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game), was finally cleared to play last Friday. She returned to score 18 points and grab eight rebounds in helping the Lady Rebels to their 20th victory of the season, a 66-61 win over Wyoming, on Saturday night.
"When I first found out (about being cleared to play), I was still exhausted emotionally by the whole thing," Frohlich said. "Then I didn't really know whether to believe it until I got out there and was dribbling the ball. I kept thinking that maybe they'd have to pull me out again before the game for something else. So I wasn't really super excited."
Frohlich said that has changed now. She is looking forward to UNLV's game on Saturday afternoon at Air Force (4-19, 0-10).
"I do feel like things are kind of back to normal again," she said. "I think our team is even more focused now on what we can accomplish if we go out and finish the season strong. On the one hand, I'm really glad to be back playing and a part of that. But on the other hand, I don't think I ever should have had to sit out."
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