Marshall Henderson suspended by Mississippi

Hugh Kellenberger | USA TODAY Sports

OXFORD, Miss. — Marshall Henderson has been suspended indefinitely by Mississippi for a violation of team rules.

The school announced the basketball player's suspension Wednesday.

"Since the season ended, we have talked a lot about Marshall taking a greater leadership role with our team. With that comes greater responsibility, and he must do a better job of living up to the high standard we expect from him and he desires from himself," Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy said in a statement.

Multiple messages left with Henderson's parents on Wednesday were not returned.

Henderson, who was named Southeastern Conference tournament MVP and led the conference in scoring as a junior last seasons, came to Ole Miss a year ago with a checkered past that included an arrest on forgery charges stemming from when he was a high school senior. After failing drug tests in January 2012, he also served jail time.

Henderson later responded on Wednesday after the suspension with a video via Ole Miss football player Denzel Nkemdiche's Instagram with the wording, "Public Announcement." In the video, Nkemdiche said "Free my boy Marshall" and then asked a viewable Henderson, "What are your thoughts after today?" Henderson responded, "Really sad." The video was taken down after 8 p.m. ET.

Ole Miss had said Henderson had been a good citizen, even if his on-court antics drew headlines and attention away from his play.

"The thing we've always talked about with Marshall is that passion is good, but he can't step in the other lane," Kennedy said in an SEC teleconference in June.

"I've always said that the greatest improvement a player can have will come with their second year with a program," Kennedy added. "Dealing with the media, fans, there's no doubt Marshall has learned from his first year."

Henderson publicly apologized after directing his middle fingers toward an opposing fan during the NCAA tournament. On June 26, the NCAA reprimanded Henderson for his tournament behavior.

"Marshall did some things in our last game that he wanted to make amends about," Kennedy said. "He regrets some of the things he's done in his competitive nature."

Henderson, who averaged 20.1 points a game last season, was expected to play more point guard in the upcoming season, Kennedy said. "We want him to be stronger with the ball, and we want to run some offensive stuff through him."

Contributing: Scott Gleeson.

Kellenberger also writes for the Clarion-Ledger, a Gannett property.