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Auburn dismisses two players, suspends one for rules violations

Josh Langford, Terrance Jones

Auburn’s Josh Langford, right, shoots over Kentucky’s Terrence Jones (3) in the first half of their NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Todd J. Van Emst)

AP

Tony Barbee took a tough job when he agreed to wrangle the Auburn Tigers two years ago, coming off of a stellar turn at the helm of the UTEP program. The John Calipari disciple took over a team that has rarely been a factor in SEC hoops, and he brought a fair amount of hope with him.

As Barbee preps for his third season with the Tigers, he’s toting a 9-23 league record, and his job just got a lot tougher. Auburn announced today that two players - Josh Langford (pictured) and Cedrick McAfee - have been dismissed from the roster, and a third player, Noel Johnson, is on indefinite suspension.

What did they do? You know the wagons are circled on this one. It’s the standard short-winded explanation, given here by Barbee in a statement, quoted by the Opelika-Auburn News:

“Cedrick McAfee and Josh Langford have been dismissed from the Auburn men’s basketball team for a violation of team rules,” Barbee said in a statement released by the school Friday evening. “Noel Johnson has been suspended indefinitely. We will have no further comment at this time.”

Let’s be clear. These were not major contributors to the Tiger program. McAfee was a medical redshirt last season, and Langford averaged just 5.2 points per game in 14 appearances. Johnson was a Clemson transfer who only has seven games as a Tiger to his credit, to little fanfare.

Still, depth is depth, and Boys Gone Wild doesn’t play well with fans or administrators. We have no idea what these three young men did, if they are all in the doghouse for the same violation, or what they might have contributed to the team next season. We do know that Barbee’s willing to run a tough ship, and that’s got to be worth something these days.

Eric Angevine is the editor of Storming the Floor. He tweets @stfhoops.