NU star leaves to help mom in cancer battle

Sophomore forward Kevin Coble has left the Northwestern basketball team to be with his ailing mother in Arizona, the school announced Monday.

Coble, the Wildcats' leading scorer (13.4 ppg) and rebounder (6.2 rpg) in 2006-07, returned home last week to Phoenix, where his mother, Carlys, is undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Coble remains enrolled at NU and will be eligible to play when he returns to the team.

"My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and is now receiving chemotherapy treatments," Coble said in a statement. "During this time, I want to be there with her. I would like to thank the coaches and my teammates for their incredible support. ... I am looking forward to getting back on the court at the conclusion of my mom's treatments so that I can have my biggest fan back in the stands."

Carlys Coble attended all of Kevin's games last season. She and Kevin's father, Randy, own a condo in Evanston where they live during the basketball season.

NU plays an exhibition game Nov. 7 against University of Chicago before opening the 2007-08 season Nov. 15 against Stanford.

"He's still enrolled in school, so it's a fluid situation," Wildcats coach Bill Carmody said. "But expectations are that he probably won't be around for a while. The treatments take probably a couple months, I would think.

"In this kind of situation, a lot of things change, so we'll see where he is."

Coble plans to return periodically to Evanston for his academics and will lift weights and train on his own. Carmody planned to discuss Coble's situation at practice Monday, though Coble has already e-mailed his teammates to inform them of his decision.

"We fully support Kevin in this decision to be with his mother," Carmody said. "We will welcome him back whenever he feels ready to return."