KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee women’s basketball team has suspended four players for academic reasons.
Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick said Wednesday that guards Ariel Massengale and Andraya Carter would miss one game and forward Cierra Burdick and guard Jannah Tucker would miss two because they did “not live up to our academic standards.”
Tucker’s punishment won’t take effect until she has fully recovered from a knee injury.
Massengale, Carter and Burdick will sit out the fourth-ranked Lady Vols’ Nov. 14 opener against Penn. Burdick also will sit out the Nov. 17 home game with Oral Roberts. None of them will play Sunday in an exhibition game with Carson-Newman.
“We don’t have a lot of rules,” Warlick said. “You can’t miss a class. You miss a class, you miss a game. You’ve got to sit in the first three rows. You can’t be late. It’s pretty black and white and simple. (Those are) our rules. If those types of rules, you don’t abide by them, the consequence is right there.”
Burdick averaged 8.7 points and 7.3 rebounds while making 25 starts last season. Carter made 21 starts and averaged 6.9 points and 2.3 assists. Massengale averaged 12.5 points and 5.8 assists in 19 starts last season before missing the Lady Vols’ final 16 games with a head injury. Tucker redshirted last season.
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