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Report: West Virginia kicks Aaric Murray off the team

Bob Huggins, Aaric Murray

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, right and player Aaric Murray, left, during an NCAA college basketball game at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va., on Saturday, March 9, 2013. Iowa State won 83-74. (AP Photo/David Smith)

AP

Bobby Huggins has finally gotten fed up with Aaric Murray, as he kicked the talented, 6-foot-10 center off the team, according to a report from Jeff Borzello of CBSSports.com.

“At the end of the day, we came to a mutual agreement it was best for him to continue his career elsewhere,” is how Huggins described the nature of Murray’s departure to Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News.

Murray averaged 8.8 points for the Mountaineers this past season, but he spent much of the year in the doghouse, at times struggling to get consistent minutes. Murray averaged 15.2 points and 7.7 boards as a sophomore at La Salle, but he got the boot from that program as well, which turned out to be the best thing that John Giannini could have done; La Salle made the Sweet 16 this past season.

Murray transferred to West Virginia after leaving La Salle and was arrested for marijuana possession while sitting out the 2011-2012 season. Where this story gets interesting, however, is that Murray has already graduated from WVU, per Borzello. With a year of eligibility remaining, he can transfer to another program without sitting out a season. Will anyone be willing to take the risk on a kid that has gotten kicked off of two teams in the span of three years?

Murray becomes the fifth player to transfer out of West Virginia this offseason. Jabarie Hinds, Aaron Brown and Volodymry Gerun all left the program in early April, while Keaton Miles transferred out in May. It’s understandable. After finishing last season under .500, Huggins decided to clean house.

WVU actually looks like it is heading in the right direction, however. They have a young back court returning -- Juwan Staten, Eron Harris, Terry Henderson, Gary Browne -- and bring in a recruiting class headlined by four-star big men Devin Williams and Elijah Macon.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.