Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said Tuesday suspended center Mike Thompson has been reinstated and is eligible to play tonight against Iowa.

But injured forward Vedran Vukusic is “doubtful” to play tonight after suffering a bruised left shoulder against Penn State on Saturday, Carmody said.

Vukusic, the team’s leading scorer at 16.9 points per game, did not play in the final minutes against Penn State after injuring the shoulder diving for a loose ball. He did not practice Monday and did only shooting drills Tuesday.

An exam after practice Monday revealed no serious damage to the shoulder, but Carmody said unless Vukusic’s condition improves dramatically, he will not play.

Carmody said senior walk-on Michael Jenkins would likely take Vukusic’s spot in the starting lineup with guard Mohamed Hachad moving to small forward.

Carmody said he also is considering starting sophomore Tim Doyle in place of Vukusic.

Thompson was suspended Jan. 19 for violating a team policy on class attendance, missed Saturday’s game and didn’t begin practicing with the team until Monday.

Carmody said he still is disappointed with Thompson’s off-court truancy and declined to say whether Thompson would start or how many minutes he would play.

“You have to behave like a student-athlete,” Carmody said. “You have to go to class. This is a school. You have to go to class here.”

Thompson is NU’s leading rebounder with 5.3 boards per game and second-leading scorer averaging 11.9 points.

Thompson’s return to the paint may help to cure the team’s rebounding woes. Against Penn State, NU was outrebounded 21-17 by Penn State forward Aaron Johnson.

Carmody also said suspended guard Brandon Lee has been reinstated. Lee was suspended on Jan. 13 for an unspecified violation of team rules but has been practicing since Monday.

After contributing quality minutes off the bench in the first seven games, Lee has played sparingly since fracturing his right orbital in practice Dec. 12.

Reach Zach Silka at [email protected].