Missouri suspends five basketball players indefinitely

by James Quinn on Jan 29, 2008 7:51 PM CST

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Three days after a weekend altercation left his top scorer with a broken jaw, Missouri basketball coach Mike Anderson has suspended five players indefinitely.

In a statement from the university, Anderson declined to indicate the reason for the discipline, calling the infractions a violation of team rules. But the move comes as Columbia police verified Tuesday that several teammates were with senior guard Stefhon Hannah when he was attacked outside the downtown nightclub Athena early Sunday morning. The injury could cause Hannah to miss the rest of the season.

Suspended from Wednesday's home game against Nebraska, and possibly beyond, are senior guard Jason Horton and forwards Marshall Brown, Darryl Butterfield and Leo Lyons. Butterfield and Brown also are seniors; Lyons is a junior. Each is either a starter or a key reserve.

Hannah, who returned home to Chicago after surgery, also is suspended.

"I am very disappointed in the actions of these young men," Anderson said. "We have defined team rules and when those rules aren't followed, our guys must be held accountable for their actions."

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Follow Up

And now, the fall out begins for the Tigers:

The KCStar is reporting that Jason Horton will be charged with third degree assault. The article also reports that further arrests could be coming.

Story Link:

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/471804.html

I posted my thoughts on this in an earlier comment thread, but a couple of points bear repeating.

First and foremost, it would be pretty hypocritical of any KU fan to get too worked up about this, given the infamous Moon Bar incident. That being said, however, you have to wonder just how much control Anderson has over his team right now. In his two years as head coach, he has now had incidents involving at least 8 players.

While a midnight curfew on weekends for college students might be a bit unreasonable, it's pretty incredible that almost half their team (and possibly more than that) would be willing to so blatantly ignore it.

Many Mizzou fans seem to want to somehow blame this on Quinn, but at this point, Anderson has had over a year to get to know these players personally. If he really does want to clean his program up, he would've gotten rid of the "thugs" by now.

by KennyGregoryRockThaCradle on Feb 2, 2008 9:20 PM CST reply actions