STARKVILLE — Mississippi State University men’s basketball coach Rick Ray announced Tuesday the dismissal of Shaun Smith and Kristers Zeidaks from the team for repeated violations of team rules.
“This is an unfortunate situation for Shaun, Kris, and our team,” Ray said in a university release. “However, players must be held accountable for their actions. Both will remain on scholarship and have the academic support all our other student-athletes receive. I wish them the very best moving on with their careers.”
The move leaves MSU with nine healthy scholarship players for the 2012-13 season, assuming freshman guard Fred Thomas recovers from surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot.
Due to various injuries to his hip, knee, and finger in his first two years at MSU, Smith appeared in 34 games, including 10 games last season. The 6-foot-6 guard from Noxubee County High School averaged 1.0 points and 0.6 rebounds last season. He was expected to compete with Thomas for playing time at one of the wing positions this season.
Ray was excited about Smith’s possibilities when he talked to the media in early August to discuss the team.
“The kid I’ve been really pleased with, has really bought into the program and done everything he’s supposed to do and just looks like a really good basketball player in the individual workouts, is Shaunessy
Smith,” Ray said Aug. 9. “I’m happy for him personally that he hasn’t been injured so far here. I think he’s excited about that, and then he’s always been second in the shooting drills as far as with Jalen (Steele). I think us having a big wing, which we really don’t have, that can shoot the basketball the way Shaunessy’s been shooting the basketball, I’m excited about the possibility of what he can do for us.”
Zeidaks, a 6-8 junior guard from Riga, Latvia, never played for MSU due to NCAA eligibility issues. The NCAA Eligibility Center ruled Nov. 3 that Zeidaks was suspended for the 2011-12 season and 11 games this season for his participation in a league in his home country that had professional players and competed against pros. In early August, Ray was skeptical about what impact Zeidaks would make in 2012-13 season after missing all that playing time before Christmas break.
“He’s still kind of down about the fact that he’s going to have miss the first 11 games, Ray said. “He’ll come into a fluid situation as far as us being in the first 11 games of the season already.”
Ray, who is entering his first season as a Division I college basketball head coach, was hired April 1 after the resignation of Rick Stansbury. One of his objectives was to clean up the perception of MSU’s program.
“I support and respect Rick’s willingness to make a difficult decision,” MSU Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin said in a statement.
MSU’s preseason practice begins in a little more than 30 days. For the first time since 2005, MSU will open its season on the road, when it travels to Troy University on Nov. 9.
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