Jelan Kendrick has been kicked off the Memphis team

Well, that didn't last long.

Earlier this afternoon, Josh Pastner dismissed Jelan Kendrick from the Memphis basketball team. Kendrick had been suspended twice already, once for the team's trip to the Bahamas in August and again late in October. As Dan Wolken explains, there was another incident prior to last night's game against Centenary:

I've now confirmed from pretty much everybody there is to confirm that Kendrick acted disruptively at Thursday's practice and was pulled off the floor for awhile to get himself together. When he came back, he was fine. But then there was another incident at Friday's shootaround where he got mouthy toward a coach and did not have the correct response when he was reprimanded. At that point, the decision was made to hold him out of last night's game because he was pretty clearly not in the right mental state to play. Kendrick decided to come and sit on the bench, but his attitude had not particularly improved from earlier in the day, so he sat in the stands.

This is a pretty impressive move by Josh Pastner. Jelan Kendrick is a very talented basketball player. He was a McDonald's all-american. And Pastner gave him the boot before he actually played a game without Kendrick running into legal issues, academic issues, or eligibility issues.

That is quite a statement. You don't want to be a team player? You don't want to listen to the coaching staff? Well, get-to-steppin'. Kendrick, if he stays at Memphis and maintains his academic standing, can transfer to another school and be eligible by the spring semester of 2012. That's a full year and a half away from the game. You don't think that will have a negative effect on Kendrick?

And you don't think any and all current and future Tigers got the message?

Kendrick could have been an impact player for the Tigers had his head been on straight. But without him in the fold, there are still plenty of versatile and athletic wings -- Will and Antonio Barton, Charles Carmouche, Chris Crawford.

Memphis will be OK.

Kendrick? I'm not so sure.

This post can also be found at Beyond the Arc.

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Jelan Kendrick has been reinstated for practice

Ten days ago, Jelan Kendrick was suspended from the Memphis basketball team for allegedly threatening a teammate. Apparently, it wasn't the first time he had done so this year. Combine that with the issues he had as a high schooler in Atlanta, and many were predicting that Kendrick would, eventually, be leaving Memphis.

That won't be happening, at least not yet.

On Thursday, Josh Pastner reinstated Kendrick after the former McDonald's all-american missed the Tiger's exhibition on Wednesday.

The rest of this post can be seen at Beyond the Arc.
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Jelan Kendrick suspended from Memphis for threatening a teammate

On a day that has been filled with more than its share of college hoops news, perhaps the most surprising comes from Memphis.

Gary Parrish broke the news today that one of Josh Pastner's star freshman, McDonald's all-american and top 20 national recruit Jelan Kendrick, has been suspended indefinitely from the team. It appears that the cause of that suspension was a verbal threat from Kendrick to a teammate, although what that threat actually was and who it was directed at is unclear. (I tuned into Parrish's radio show this afternoon, and he said that he had heard too many different stories and that he didn't want to put a name out there if he didn't have it right.)

For those in the know, this apparently comes as no surprise. Kendrick bounced around high schools. He bounced from AAU team to AAU team. He's had behavioral issues in the past. When he would get into trouble, he would he elsewhere without punishment.

At Memphis that didn't fly.


This also isn't the first time he's been in trouble there. From Parrish's blog:

A separate source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told CBSSports.com that in addition to the threat -- a threat that was deemed serious enough to report to school officials -- Kendrick has been in multiple fights with teammates since arriving on campus, one of which led to second-year coach Josh Pastner banning Kendrick from the Tigers' preseason trip to the Bahamas. Reached Tuesday by phone, Pastner declined to discuss with CBSSports.com the details surrounding Kendrick's suspension. He said only that, "It's a personal matter, and Jelan will be back [with the team] when the matter is resolved."

It seems that Josh Pastner and the Tiger staff left him at home to, more or less, belabor the point that this kind of behavior was not acceptable. He didn't learn, he acted out again by threatening someone else in the program, and now he has been suspended. Its not crazy to think that this is also the end of Kendrick's Memphis career.

Hopefully, Kendrick can work through whatever issues he is currently dealing with; he's apparently already in counseling, which is the first step. What's sad is that if Kendrick does change -- whether it is at Memphis or at another school -- he will be followed around by this the rest of his career. He's talented enough to one day be a first round pick in the NBA Draft, and even if he proves it on the court, he may have just cost himself some guaranteed money down the road.

Think about it like this -- he made a threat that was serious enough and credible enough that he got himself suspended indefinitely -- and quite possibly kicked off the team -- and sent to counseling. If you are an NBA GM, are you going to invest in that person without doing a thorough and deep background check?

Whether its the ability to make money in the stock market or an incredible musical talent or a world class athletic skill, you hate to see talent get wasted.

Here's to hoping Jelan Kendrick can put it all together.
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Maybe Memphis won't miss John Calipari as much as we thought

Josh Pastner came into Memphis with the reputation of being a great recruiter, but this is starting to get absurd.

It started with Will Barton back in June, as Pastner went into Baltimore and snagged the talented 6'6" wing and his brother Antonio.

Next came point guard Joe Jackson, a Memphis native who was all but guaranteed to be a Tiger since the first time he picked up a basketball, who committed early in November.

Both Will Barton and Jackson are top 15 recruits nationally. Put them on the court with Elliot Williams, Will Coleman, and a healthy Angel Garcia, and you got yourself a top 25 team.

But Pastner was far from done.

No doubt Pastner is smiling after this past week.
(photo credit: The Hoops Report)

In October, another Memphis native, 6'4" swing man Chris Crawford who was an AAU teammate of Jackson, committed to the Tigers as well.

But the real fireworks started on signing day last Wednesday. The day kicked off with Pastner landing a commitment from 6'8" forward Hippolyte Tsafack before inking both Barton's and Jackson to their LOI's.

Then on Saturday, another top ten recruit, 6'6" wing Jelan Kendrick from Atlanta, called an impromptu press conference to announce that he had signed a letter of intent with Memphis. This was a big surprise to the recruiting world, as Kendrick had been emphatic that he was bypassing the fall signing period. But Kendrick played with Jackson and Crawford for the Memphis Magic AAU team that won the Adidas Super 64 tournament in Las Vegas, and was convinced by the success they had over the summer that he would have a shot at a national title.

Pastner still wasn't done. Just this afternoon, Tarik Black, a 6'7", 230 lb power forward out of Memphis that also happened to be a member of the Memphis Magic, announced his intentions to play for the Tigers.

All told, Pastner's recruiting class consists of three five-star, two four-star, and two three-star recruits. Assuming everyone returns to school, take a look at this line-up:

• PG - Joe Jackson
• SG - Elliot Williams
• SF - Will Barton
• PF - Tarik Black
• C - Will Coleman
• Bench - Angel Garcia, Hippolyte Tsafack, Jelan Kendrick, Antonio Barton, Roburt Sallie, Wesley Witherspoon, Chris Crawford
  

Pretty talented, huh?

Could the Memphis Magic Elite be the second coming of Michigan State's Flintstones?

With a roster depleted by defections and injuries, next season may not come soon enough for some Memphis fans.
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