The Mississippi State men’s basketball team announced the indefinite suspension of sophomore Roquez Johnson yesterday.
Johnson was suspended for violation of team rules and will not travel to Tuscaloosa for State’s game against Alabama Wednesday. The suspension came less than two weeks after junior Jalen Steele was suspended for violating team rules.
Head coach Rick Ray said the players have been respectful on the court and not talked back or had similar problems.
“The suspensions have nothing to do with coaching style,” Ray said. “Our problem is a void of leadership. I think our young kids, the freshmen, are trying to do the things they’re supposed to do. They haven’t had any backlash at all; it’s too much to ask incoming guys, especially freshmen, to provide that instant leadership.”
Ray said a factor in the suspensions may be the players trying to see how much they can get away with without getting punished, but that the answer to that is nothing.
“I think first and foremost it shows those freshmen that they can grow into a leadership position starting in the offseason right away. They don’t have to wait to matriculate to that point when they’re a junior or senior to be a leader,” Ray said. “I think the other thing, it’s showing our guys that just because you’re a junior or a senior or just because you have experience doesn’t mean you are a leader.”
Johnson had been averaging 8.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game this season. As for Steele, Ray said his availability this week is “still yet to be determined.”
With Wendell Lewis still unavailable with a knee injury, State is left with five scholarship players and two walk-ons available to play Wednesday.
None of the seven players available to play Wednesday averaged any points for MSU last season, five are freshmen and the other two, Baxter Price and Tyson Cunningham, did not score for the Dogs last year.
Alabama’s roster is in a similar position, though, and will have just eight or nine players for Wednesday’s game.
Ray said when State fell to the Tide earlier this season, unforced turnovers plagued the Dogs after they played a solid first half.
“The way they played basketball at the beginning of that game the first 16 or 17 minutes they had success against Alabama,” Ray said. “They gotta see the positives as well as the negatives. I think if you look at the first 16 or 17 minutes it shows our guys can compete against Alabama.”
The Dogs look to end a 10-game losing streak at Alabama.
The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. Wednesday and will be televised on the SEC Network.