Jaylen Carey’s Missouri debut will have to wait.
On Monday, Tigers head coach Dennis Gates said the former Tennessee forward has been indefinitely suspended, according to a report from Drew King. Gates did not offer specifics, saying only that the suspension stems from a violation of team rules.
Carey arrived at Missouri after one season in Knoxville, where his year with the Volunteers came with both productive stretches and rough patches. He finished with averages of 7.4 points and six rebounds across 37 games, and he flashed his best form early. In a three-game run against Houston, Kansas and Syracuse, he put up 15.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
His strongest stretch also came late, when Tennessee made its NCAA Tournament push. Carey posted an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double in the Sweet 16 win over Iowa State, added 10 points against Virginia in the Round of 32 and scored eight against Michigan in the Elite Eight.
The SEC grind, though, was far less kind. Carey went through an 11-game stretch in conference play in which he reached double figures only once, and he shot 48.7% from the field and 49.1% from the line.
After the season, he entered the transfer portal and committed to Missouri. The Tigers are coming off a 20-13 season that ended with a 10-seed in the NCAA Tournament and a Round of 64 loss to Miami.
Tennessee and Missouri are scheduled to meet on Wednesday, Jan. 13, in Knoxville. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
ET, with the game to air on either ESPN2 or ESPNU. Carey’s status for that matchup is uncertain with the suspension still open-ended.
Missouri is now the fourth school in four years for Carey. He started at James Madison, moved to Vanderbilt to follow head coach Mark Byington, then transferred to Tennessee before staying in the SEC with the Tigers.
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