Star Player From NCAA Tournament-Bound Team Arrested
Missouri forward Jordan Barnett, who is the team’s second-leading scorer and rebounder, was arrested early Saturday morning on suspicion of DWI by Columbia police.
Barnett was pulled over for a traffic violation shortly before 3:30 a.m. near Missouri’s campus. He was booked on suspicion of DWI after he allegedly failed to drive within a single lane.
According to the St. Louis Dispatch, the basketball program is aware of Barnett’s arrest but declined to comment.
The Dispatch also posted an excerpt from Missouri’s student-athlete handbook. It says that an athlete arrested for driving under the influence will be suspended from team activities for a minimum of one week for a first offense.
Missouri last played on Thursday when they were eliminated from the SEC tournament by Georgia.
Barnett had arguably his worst game of the season in the Tigers’ loss to Georgia, as he made just one of eight shots from the field. He scored only three points — far below his season average of 13.7 ppg.
Barnett, a native of St. Louis, is a senior who began his college career at the University of Texas. He played two seasons with the Longhorns before transferring.
This incident is something that Missouri would rather not be thinking about at this time of the year. It’s never a good time for a player to be arrested, but it’s especially worrisome on the eve of the NCAA tournament selection announcements.
Since Missouri didn’t win the SEC tournament, they will have to qualify for the tournament as an at-large team. Their resume is solid, with a 20-12 record and a Basketball Power Index in the top 50.
College basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy ranks the Tigers as the 39th best team in the nation thanks to their strong strength of schedule. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi pegs Missouri as the eight seed in the East region of the NCAA tournament.
In the eyes of the selection committee, Missouri will likely be boosted by the recent return of freshman Michael Porter Jr., who was ranked as a top player in the nation coming out of high school, but who suffered a back injury in his first game of the season.
It was expected that Porter would miss the entire season after undergoing surgery, but he was cleared to return to practice in February and declared he wanted to play again.
He got his opportunity in that SEC tournament loss to Georgia, but looked somewhat rusty. Porter made five of his 17 free throw attempts and scored 12 points in 23 minutes of game action.
Both Porter and Barnett are hoping that their last game wasn’t their last game.
Missouri is looking to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
They last won a game in the tournament in the 2009-10 season.
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