MESA, Ariz. -- Arizona State basketball player Jamal Faulkner, the team's leading scorer last season, has begun serving a 30-day jail sentence for violating his probation for a fraud conviction.
The 6-foot-7 forward was sentenced Thursday, putting the 1992 fall semester in jeopardy. Faulkner is not scheduled to be released from jail until Sept. 26, nearly a month after the semester begins.
Since he will be unable to attend school, Faulkner's 1992-93 season also appears to be out of the question.
'He literally would lose the year,' said George McQuarn, an Arizona State assistant coach. 'It would affect the abilities of the Arizona State University basketball team somewhat, but it certainly would hurt Jamal in terms of his career goals because it would affect him in the eyes of the NBA.'
The case will be reviewed by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Steven Sheldon, which offers a glimmer of hope for Faulkner.
Faulkner admitted earlier this summer that he had failed to report to his probation officer and to perform court-ordered community service. He has since resumed the community-service obligation, working at a local high school.
The probation stems from Faulkner's earlier conviction in a credit- card scam involving athletic department telephone calling cards.
Faulkner and three teammates entered guilty pleas to illegally using the calling cards to make more than $13,000 in phone calls over a 13- month period. The four players were ordered to pay the money back and to each perform 100 hours of community service.
Because they pleaded guilty to an undesignated charge, successful completion of the probation and community service would have resulted in the fraud conviction being set as a misdemeanor.
Faulkner averaged 12.6 points and 5.6 rebounds a game last season. He had a better season as a freshman, with 15.4 points and 6.2 rebounds an outing as he was named Pacific-10 Conference Freshman of the Year.
