To go along with news that the two best players on Alabama’s basketball team are going to test the waters of the NBA Draft this summer, Freshman PG Rico Pickett has been suspended indefinitely by Head Coach Mark Gottfried.  Apparently his father has confirmed that Rico will be transferring. 

“We have standards and levels academically as well as athletically that our student-athletes need to meet, and there are consequences when they fail to do that,” Gottfried said in a statement released by Alabama.  However, this is not a grades issue according to Rico’s father. 

Something fishy is going on here.  While Pickett struggled this year with turnovers and free throws, his development as a point guard had improved toward the end of the season.  This really puts the Alabama basketball team in a hole starting out next year with no real established point guards on the roster unless Ron Steele comes back.  

If you recall, Pickett was suspended earlier in the season for violating team rules, but was welcomed back a week later.  This could be a similar situation to that one, but the details have not been released.

What’s even more interesting about this situation is that apparently there is another team out there trying to recruit him away from UA.  If this is the case, that is a major violation and if that news becomes public, harsh penalties will come for that team.  That, however, is only a rumor. 

We will continue to monitor this situation and give you guys the news as it comes.