“Marlon Smith was in serious condition last night at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center with an illness that school officials declined to disclose.
“A spokeswoman at the medical center said late yesterday that the Penn State basketball player’s condition was listed as serious and that he was admitted on Friday night. She refused to elaborate on any diagnosis or prognosis, citing patient confidentiality regulations.
“According to the center’s guidebook definition, serious condition means: ‘Vital signs may be unstable and not within normal limits. The patient is acutely ill. Indicators are questionable.’
“Sources close to the PSU basketball team said Smith, the Lions’ leading scorer a year ago and a two-year starter, fainted on Friday at practice, hours before the Nittany Lions’ flight to Minneapolis.
“Initially, it was suspected Smith was suffering from a flu bug that has attacked the team for a month. Smith’s backcourt teammate Mike Walker was knocked into the hospital by the flu two weeks ago during the team’s holiday tournament trip to Arizona State.”