Nebraska Basketball: Tim Miles sheds some light on Nana Akenten suspension

Earlier Thursday (March 7), the Nebraska basketball team announced that guard Nana Akenten had been suspended "indefinitely" for violating team rules. While the school and head coach Tim Miles didn't shed a lot of light on just what team rules the sophomore broke, Miles' comments about the incident, while guarded, might have shed a tiny bit of light on what happened.

"It was a violation of team rules, you really can't get into more than that other than I wouldn't have done it unless, one, it was the right thing to do, and two, it can be a learning experience for Nana." The Huskers head coach finished his remarks with a rather interesting comment that could have decoded the whole thing.

Academics playing a role in Akenten's departure?

"He'll be at the study table, working on everything on his academics, so he'll have some time to concentrate on that." The Nebraska basketball coach might not have even known that the assumption from that last sentence might mean the rules Nana Akenten broke had something to do with how his grades were looking.

Nebraska basketball's bad season getting worse

It's entirely possible that Miles simply meant that because the guard isn't going to be on the court with the rest of the team, he will be able to focus on his grades. At the same time, going out of his way to talk about how Akenten needs to focus on his grades appears to be a bit of a giveaway.

All schools have certain GPAs their players must maintain in order to stay eligible under NCAA rules. Many coaches tend to have their own rules that go above and beyond the bare minimum. This is usually to make sure everyone stays away from possibly losing eligibility.

Akenten was expected to be a very important bench piece when the season started. Some wondered if he might eventually play himself into the rotation. That never really happened as Miles didn't really lean on the Huskers' bench much at all. That might have been one of the reasons the Huskers' season continued going downhill at a trajectory no one saw coming in November and December. The team was still on the bubble as of a couple of weeks ago, but bad losses continued piling up.

Now the season is all but over. Nana Akenten won't get to see the final few games of the regular season from the Cornhuskers' bench because of whatever he did. It's clear the Nebraska basketball head coach thinks it was the right move, but it certainly casts yet another dark cloud on what has been an awful season in Lincoln for the fans, players, and members of the athletic department.