Coleman dismissed from men’s basketball team

After dropping its third game in a row, the Marshall men's basketball team has suffered another loss, as head coach Tom Herrion announced that Justin Coleman has been dismissed from the program as of Thursday.

Coleman, a 6'5" freshman guard from Richmond, Va., appeared in 17 games for the Herd this season and averaged 5.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

In his announcement of Coleman's dismissal, Herrion stated he had been dismissed "for conduct detrimental to the program and not upholding its standards and expectations."

The move came one night after Marshall fell to 4-2 in conference play in a loss to the University of Alabama-Birmingham, in which Coleman did not see any playing time in the second half, after playing just six minutes in the first.

Coleman originally committed to the University of Louisville, ranked in the top 50 overall and top 10 at his position of the class of 2010 according to Rivals.com, before transferring to Marshall.

This is not the first time Coleman has seen punishment while a member of the Marshall program.

After a road loss to Belmont, Herrion announced Coleman would be suspended indefinitely, and the suspension lasted for the following two games.

Prior to that suspension, Coleman had started the previous five games and had his best performance against High Point when he recorded a career high in points and minutes, with 16 and 26 respectively.

The dismissal of Coleman, who averaged 15.8 minutes per game, leaves the Herd one man short at the guard position.

Although Marshall has plenty of talent in its guards, the Herd has struggled to score lately, especially in its last outing against UAB when the team scored a season-low 49 points.

Marshall will take the court for the first time since the dismissal of Coleman Saturday night inside FedExForum against the University of Memphis.

The Herd will look to improve on its 13-7 (4-2) record against a very athletic and talented Tiger team which sits at 14-6 (5-1).

Memphis relies heavily on the play of their guards Will Barton and Joe Jackson, who are first and second in scoring for the Tigers at 18.3 and 10.1 points per game.