A disappointing basketball season just got worse. Per The State, Mike Holmes has been dismissed from the team for violation of team rules:
"We have a standard and basic level of expectations for our team - both staff and players - and Mike was repeatedly unable to reach those expectations, on and off the court," Horn said in a statement. "We will work with Mike to help him continue his education and basketball career."
There had been muted disquiet among fans regarding Holmes's not being in attendance to support his team while he has been injured, and now we're learning that apparently things really weren't good between Holmes and his responsibilities.
Without the prospect of getting Holmes back to help our front line, we're in for a tough haul in the SEC. We're suffering on the boards right now due to size mismatches, and those aren't going to go away with the current roster. The facts of the matter are now that we should be very impressed with this team if they manage to finish with a winning record. That's a tough pill to swallow considering the preseason expectations of our first NCAA berth in several years.
The other sad thing about this story is that this was Holmes's junior season. We knew this season was probably going to be tough when Holmes and Dominique Archie went down with injuries, but we could look forward to having Holmes back next year to work with the stellar recruiting class Darrin Horn has coming in. That won't be the case now.
Good luck to Holmes in his future efforts. He was a great player for us while he was here, and I hope he figures things out and finds success in life.