Marshell Henderson prepares for a three point competition during Friday’s Square Jam.
Photo by Austin McAfee I The Daily Missisippian
Ole Miss senior guard Marshall Henderson’s suspension has finally been announced. He’ll miss the exhibition game this Friday against USC-Aiken, the season opener against Troy, then the first two Southeastern Conference games on Jan. 9 and 11 when Ole Miss will host Auburn, then travel to Mississippi State.
Three regular-season games isn’t too harsh, but making two of those the first SEC games of the season makes this punishment serious.
Just because Auburn and Mississippi State finished in the bottom three of the conference, with seven combined SEC wins, doesn’t mean Ole Miss is cheapening this suspension. Remember that last season Ole Miss went to Mississippi State and lost. They also went to Auburn and escaped with a 63-61 win in which Henderson hit two free throws in the final seconds to get the victory.
Also, if Ole Miss had suspended Henderson for the first three regular season games, rather than two SEC games, he would have missed a road game at Coastal Carolina and a home game with Mississippi Valley State, two games that should be easier to win and are less important than any SEC games.
But maybe Henderson’s suspension should have been longer. This isn’t the first time he has found trouble in his life, so maybe head coach Andy Kennedy should send a message and give him a lengthy suspension.
However, when Henderson came to Ole Miss, Kennedy gave him a clean slate. It isn’t Kennedy’s responsibility to retroactively punish Henderson for things he did before he came to Ole Miss.
The other important note is that Ole Miss is self policing this incident. Henderson wasn’t arrested. He isn’t in trouble with the NCAA or SEC. He is in trouble with Ole Miss, Kennedy and Athletics Director Ross Bjork. Ole Miss could have not given him a suspension. They could have let him play every game. But they chose to suspend him and hurt their chances at winning.
Now, this suspension will make the end of the nonconference schedule interesting. Ole Miss will travel to Western Kentucky and host Dayton to finish up the nonconference slate. Those are two games that Ole Miss will need to be full strength to get victories. But the games against Louisiana Monroe and Mercer that come the week before Christmas will be an opportunity for Ole Miss to find out ways to score without Henderson.
Look for Ole Miss to experiment in those two games, as well as the exhibition and season opener. They’ll need to find a way to replace Henderson, who led the SEC in scoring (20.1 points per game) and usage rate (30.1 percent) last season. Multiple people will need to step up to replace his production. Sophomores Anthony Perez and Martavious Newby and freshman Janari Joesaar will likely be competing for an opportunity to take Henderson’s place in the starting lineup.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss men’s basketball, follow @Tyler_RSR and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
