Four Tennessee State Men’s Basketball Players Dismissed From Team

Tennessee State University men’s basketball coach John Cooper has dismissed four players, the team announced Tuesday afternoon. Cooper did not elaborate on what transgression led to the dismissal of juniors Josh Sain, Darius Cox, Hamilton Nash, and Erick Peguero, but classified their behavior as “repeated violations of team rules.”

“This wasn’t the first offense for any of these guys,” Cooper said. “We had laid out the groundwork and everyone on the team knew where we were. We want people who want to be here and understand what this is about, want to get a degree, want to play basketball, want to bring some value to their life. When I see you sacrificing that and putting yourself in front of the team then there’s a problem.”

Sain was the team’s leading scorer, and Cox was a preseason all-Ohio Valley Conference team member. The 4-19 Tigers now field just nine players on the roster.  It’s not quite the way Cooper envisioned his first year at the helm of TSU basketball going, but it is a strong message to current and future recruits about the seriousness of rebuilding a program.

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