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Continuing a trend of nothing good ever happening for Auburn basketball, Tigers sophomore guard/forward Shaq Johnson was kicked off the team Thursday for a violation of team rules, the school announced Thursday. Johnson was released after a recent arrest, per al.com's Brandon Marcello.
"We hold our student-athletes to a high standard at Auburn University in the way that they conduct themselves off the court," head coach Tony Barbee said in a statement Thursday. "I am very disappointed in Shaq's choices and actions, and they won't be tolerated. This decision is not one that I take lightly, but it is in the best interest of both the program and the student-athlete."
Remember way back in 2012, when Auburn was coming off a year of improvement under head coach Tony Barbee, and the Tigers signed an impressive recruiting class? Yeah, that was a nice time. Auburn signed six players in that class, highlighted by Johnson, shooting guard Jordan Price and point guard Brian Greene Jr. For those of you keeping score at home, only two members of that class are still on Auburn's roster: Asauhn Dixon-Tatum and Jordon Granger. Johnson, Price and Green are all gone.
Johnson played in 32 games for Auburn as a freshman, averaging 18.6 minutes per outing. He scored 5.3 points per contest on 41.2 percent shooting from the field and added 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per night. As a former four-star recruit, Johnson was expected to be a key contributor for the Tigers in 2013-14 -- if not the key contributor.
For Auburn basketball fans, everything is just terrible.
UPDATE: The beat guys are reporting Johnson was pulled over at 11:54 p.m. Wednesday night and arrested for second-degree possession of marijuana. Yippee!