On Wednesday afternoon, Michigan head coach John Beilein announced that his all-american point guard Trey Burke had been suspended for an exhibition game against Northern Michigan.
The cause for the suspension? A “violation of team standards.”
“We have high standards and values for our student-athletes and we expect everyone to meet those expectations,” Beilein said in a written statement. “Trey will sit out the first game as a result of some ‘out of character’ decisions he now regrets. We believe he has learned a valuable lesson and we are confident he will grow from this experience.”
One can only imagine that what Burke did wasn’t all that serious; he was only suspended for an exhibition and not for an actual game.
But it is noteable. There have been some concerns about a lack of leadership on this team, and if the all-american is willing to do something that gets himself suspended for a game, even an exhibition, it’s a red flag.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.