Starting guard Ben Hansbrough has decided to transfer to another university and effectively cut his ties with the Mississippi State basketball team, head coach Rick Stansbury said Monday in a news release.Hansbrough’s departure may have caused heads to turn, yet the problem has happened before.
Four players, Reginald and Richard Delk, Vernon Goodridge and Bernard Rimmer, transferred last year to various institutions.
In an interview with the Clarion-Ledger Tuesday, Hansbrough said the lack of a dedicated practice facility influenced his decision.
“That has a lot to do with it right there, just that simple stuff right there,” he said. “As simple as that may sound, that’s a huge thing.”
Amid rumors of possible conflicts with coaches or players, Hansbrough said his decision wasn’t made for those reasons.
“It had nothing to do with that,” he said. “Had nothing to do with playing time.”
Stansbury said very little on the subject, save wishing the Missouri native well in the future.
“Ben is a good kid and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors,” Stansbury said in the release.
Hansbrough, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, was State’s fourth-leading scorer in its recent second-round NCAA tournament run.
Hansbrough started 28 games and averaged 10.5 points per game. He led the team in free throw shooting at just under 79 percent and shot 36 percent from the 3-point arc.
The Reflector will have complete coverage of this breaking story in Friday’s edition.