Eric Lockett reinstated to NC State basketball team

Eric Lockett is back with the NC State basketball team after a campus review of his legal case concluded with no disciplinary action taken. Lockett will not play against Clemson but perhaps could be available should the Wolfpack advance to Thursday.

Lockett has been away from the basketball program since being charged with misdemeanor assault on a female in mid-February. Those charges recently were dismissed by the Wake County DA’s office, but given the nature of them, Lockett still needed to be cleared by a campus review before he could return to the team.

Tomorrow’s game will be the eighth consecutive contest that he’s missed; he hasn’t appeared in a Wolfpack uniform since Feb. 9 against Pittsburgh. It’s unclear when he’ll next be available, and he may not play much even then. This is not really the best time of year to be shaking off the rust of a month-long absence.