Turner Awarded Year of Eligibility

Tuesday, August 29th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” Southern California forward Jarvis Turner, whose college career appeared over, has been awarded a fifth year of eligibility by the NCAA for medical hardship.

``It is great to have a veteran guy like Jarvis Turner back on the team because he knows what it takes to win,'' USC coach Henry Bibby said Monday. ``He's had a tough career at USC because of injuries and hopefully he can make the most of this opportunity. It's good to have another player on the bench who we know we can count on.''

Turner, a 6-foot-8, 240-pounder, played in only seven of USC's 30 games last season because of various foot injuries, averaging 1.7 points and 1.6 rebounds.

Turner has started 23 times in 74 career games and averaged 6.5 points and 3.7 rebounds. As a sophomore in the 1997-98 season, he averaged 10.6 points and 5.3 rebounds.

USC returns all five starters from last year's team, which finished 16-14.