Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson is officially back with his team, and will be officially suspended for the Rebels regular season opener, and two South Eastern Conference games.
The Ole Miss star will sit out the Rebels’ exhibition game on Saturday night, their regular season opener the following weekend and their first two SEC games in January, the school announced Tuesday morning. That means the three regular season games Henderson will miss are at home against Troy and Auburn and on the road at rival Mississippi State.
Ole Miss reportedly set up a phone call between Henderson and Chris Herren and established different sets of ground rules the senior had to meet to return to the team.
Henderson is lucky to get this opportunity after squandering so many before this one.
In high school, Henderson was arrested for using counterfeit money to buy marijuana. In college, he spent time in prison in spring 2012 after violating his probation by testing positive for marijuana, cocaine and alcohol.
Henderson spoke about what basketball means to him, and how losing the game helped him change.
“When basketball is not there, it’s always been a bad time for me,” Henderson said. “I still wonder how things just got out of control. I was thinking I was above everything, which is crazy because I’ve never thought that way before.I’m like, “Well, I’m not a professional, so I don’t get paid, so why is partying when the season is over frowned upon? Why do I have to be held to a higher standard? These people I’m with — future doctors, lawyers, businessmen — they don’t have to take a drug test. Why do I? I just kind of created this unrealistic stuff in my head.
“This is the first time I ever just realized, ‘Holy crap, they gave me another chance.’ I thank them every day. I can’t believe that they did.”