Memphis loses Pierre Henderson-Niles

Memphis has had some serious roster issues this season, especially along their front line.

Angel Garcia is just now coming back from a knee injury. Martin Ngaloro, a french kid that was supposed to play as a freshman for the Tigers this season, never made it to the States after injuring his knee. Latavious Williams, the jewel of Pastner's class this season, decided he would rather play pro ball than go to college. Shawn Taggart went pro as well.

Is Pierre Henderson-Niles gone due to attitude problems? Wouldn't really be a surprise. That's his hand telling a UAB fan what the five fingers said to the face.
(photo credit: CBSSports)

Basically, Pastner was going to have just Will Coleman, a JuCo transfer, and Pierre Henderson-Niles up front this season.

Now, he is left with just Coleman as Pastner announced that PHN is not longer a Memphis Tiger.

"As I told the team, I have a soft spot for Pierre, and I really want to see him do well," Pastner said. "He's a fine young man, and I am proud of how hard he worked to get in shape to play this season and also how hard he worked in the classroom so that he can graduate in May. Moving forward, we will do all we can for Pierre as he finishes up the academic work toward completing his degree. We wish Pierre nothing but the best."

"This is nothing negative. He didn't do anything against the law or anything like that," Pastner told ESPN.com on Monday night. "I like the young man. I have a soft spot for him. It was just at this point, we both agree it's time to go forward."

According to a source for Gary Parrish (who has written for the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, does a show on Memphis radio, and basically will be the go-to source for any Tiger related news), the reason for PHN leaving the team was a result of attitude problems, but that this was a "mutual decision".

PHN was in the news quite a bit over the past two summers as he worked on getting his big body back into shape. He was a very highly touted recruit early in high school, but as he kept packing on the pounds, he struggled to maintain his quickness and explosiveness. Depending on who you asked, his weight was somewhere in the 350-375 lb range, but he is now down to somewhere between 275-300 lb. Hopefully, he can continue to keep the weight off and stay healthy.