Sayonara Stef

Stefhon Hannah's career as a Tiger is officially over. Coach Mike Anderson announced that Hannah will be dismissed from the Missouri Tiger basketball team for displaying a lack of academic commitment after missing 12 consecutive days of classes following his involvement in the Jan. 27 brawl at Athena Night Club.

There had been some speculation that Hannah's absence from classes was putting MU at risk of losing a scholarship but that appeared unlikely. 

Hannah has received an enormous amount of criticism over the past few weeks from fans, media and coaches alike. Despite his apparent character flaws you can't question the talent that Stefhon had. It's a shame to see it all go to waste. Anderson has given Hannah the option of keeping his scholarship to continue working on his degree (a very classy move on the part of coach Anderson).

I have heard that Stefhon was very cocky and standoffish with both the media and the younger players on the team. But the few times that I have seen him in a public setting he appeared to be a very happy and fun loving guy. Unfortunately he has developed the nasty habit of hanging out at the wrong types of places with the wrong kinds of people. Hopefully this serves as a wake up call for Stefhon and he is able to finish getting his degree (but after missing 12 days of classes the odds of that happening can't be good). 

This has little to no impact on the rest of the season as Hannah was likely going to miss the rest of it to begin with. If you ask me, it will actually benefit the team. I thought our offense was too reliant on Stefhon in late game situations. Since he was the only player with the ability to consistently create his own shot the other players tended to stand around and wait for Hannah to do his thing. With him being gone it will force some of the younger players to step up and make plays even if that takes them outside of their comfort zones. It might mean a few more losses this season but could pay dividends down the road.