Freshman Nate Morris dismissed from Ole Miss men’s basketball team

Published 5:35 pm Friday, January 13, 2017

Ole Miss’ frontcourt depth took another hit Friday.

Freshman forward Nate Morris has been dismissed from the team, the school announced. The 6-foot-9 Morris had seven rebounds and three blocks in seven games this season.

Though a reason for Morris’ dismissal wasn’t given, Morris was arrested in Oxford on Tuesday night for speeding and driving without a license, according to The Clarion-Ledger, the second arrest for Morris in a two-month span.

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Morris was arrested on a DUI charge just days after the Rebels opened the season Nov. 11 while already suspended because of an unspecified violation of team rules. He missed the first eight games before making his collegiate debut against Virginia Tech on Dec. 11.

“We have a standard that we expect the members of our team to meet,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “Nate failed to adhere to those standards.”

It leaves the Rebels with three bodies down low in Sebastian Saiz, Marcanvis Hymon and Justas Furmanavicius. Fellow freshman big Karlis Silins tore his ACL last month. Dominik Olejniczak, a 7-footer, isn’t eligible this season after transferring from Drake.

Ole Miss (10-6, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) plays at South Carolina (13-3, 3-0) on Saturday and may be without leading scorer Deandre Burnett, whose status is day to day after leaving Wednesday’s game against Georgia late in the first half with a high ankle sprain.