Memphis guards Dajuan Wagner and Antonio Burks were missing from the Tigers’ starting lineup Wednesday night because of what Tiger head coach John Calipari deemed a violation of the team’s “performance agreement.”
Wagner and Burks, who have combined to average 28.1 points and 8.5 assists per game this season, were benched in favor of little-used point guard Nathaniel Root and freshman guard Anthony Rice.
“We had a commitment letter that we had to start this year and a couple of the guys didn’t live up to their commitments right at the start of the semester,” Calipari said after the Tigers’ 102-81 win over Alabama-Birmingham. “Nothing crazy. I just want to make a statement to my team.
“The greatest news is that when I did it, Antonio and Dajuan worked hard in practice that day. No pouting. They knew. Pay the price and now move on, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Wagner, who scored 15 points in 28 minutes of action, entered the game for Rice at the 15:45 mark of the first half while Burks, who had 12 points and a game-high 10 assists, entered the game for Root a few seconds later.
“That just shows we’ve got a good team. It doesn’t matter who comes in and starts,” Burks said. “It was a violation for us to leave class early yesterday. We knew yesterday we weren’t going to start, so Anthony Rice and Root, they stepped up.”
Rice, taking full advantage of the opportunity presented to him, scored a career-high 19 points Wednesday on 6-of-10 shooting while Root contributed six points in nine minutes of play. The two also combined to go 5-of-9 from three-point range.
“Yes it hurts,” Burks said of not starting, “but we’ve got so many good players, it really doesn’t matter.”
The performance agreement, which was signed by each Tiger player before the season began, covers a list of player obligations, including attending class, workouts and team breakfasts.
