Vandy's Siakam to miss opener for dad's funeral

Vanderbilt basketball player James Siakam will miss an exhibition game and the regular-season opener to attend the funeral of his father in Cameroon.

Tchamo Siakam, died nearly two weeks ago, following a car wreck in Cameroon in West Africa. Cultural custom dictates the family attend a ceremony in their home country.

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said Siakam, a senior starting forward, will leave Sunday for Cameroon and return on Nov. 16. He will play in Thursday's first exhibition game against Illinois-Springfield, but he will miss the second exhibition against Sewanee on Nov. 11 and the regular-season opener against Trevecca on Nov. 16.

"I told James as soon as it happened, 'You can take as much time as you need, or you can take no time off. It's up to you,'" Stallings said. "James is a really awesome young man and truly one of the best human beings we've ever had in this program in the 15 or 16 years I've been here. He's got a duty and an obligation to his family and to himself. He has a duty and obligation to us, as well, but that obligation to us comes after the obligation to his family."

Stallings said Siakam's travel expenses will be paid by Vanderbilt's NCAA student-athlete special assistance fund. Each NCAA institution has the fund to pay for extra costs such as additional health insurance, psychological counseling and travel for family emergencies, judged by the school on a case-by-case basis.

Stallings, whose father died during his senior year at Purdue, said the NCAA emergency fund is very useful for such situations.

"It's a very fair, very nice thing to do," Stallings said. "I was in a different situation geographically, but my father died around the same time during my senior year in college, as well. There was nothing like that in place then, and so I had to figure it out myself.

"But I think James has handled this well. I related to him my experience when it happened to me in college. I think he has kind of followed closely what I did to handle it."

Siakam started 28 games last season, averaging 7.2 points and 5.3 rebounds. He also led the team with a 58.9 field-goal percentage. Stallings said Luke Kornet, a seven-foot sophomore, will start in Siakam's absence and he may take that spot on Thursday for the sake of continuity.

"James has earned a starting position, but I might start Luke even for the first exhibition game so he gets prepared to start games in James' absence," Stallings said. "I spoke to James about it, and as always, he has a very team-first attitude."

Siakam came to the United States in 2007, following his older brothers who played at Western Kentucky and IUPUI. His younger brother, Pascal, plays at New Mexico State, and he has two older sisters. James had not seen his father since 2010 when he attended the wedding of his older brother, Boris, in Kentucky.