Sources: AJ Stewart no longer a member of the UK Basketball team

The story started to break (and I say started because the situation is still fluid) last night, but word is that AJ Stewart is no longer a member of the University of Kentucky Basketball team. From WKYT:

KENTUCKY’S LOSS TO SOUTH CAROLINA HAD TO BE THEIR WORST PERFORMANCE OF THE SEASON, AND THE NEWS ISN’T ANY BETTER TONIGHT. WKYT IS BEING TOLD SOPHOMORE A.J. STEWART HAS QUIT THE KENTUCKY BASKETBALL TEAM, AND AT THIS TIME WE DO NOT KNOW WHY.

This report says he quit, others say he was kicked off. Matt Jones first reported the story, and his story was that there was a locker room altercation in Columbia, and that AJ did not practice with UK yesterday.

Apparently AJ’s mom was contacted last night (how do so many reporters have such ready contact with players’ parents? I need to get on this), and she said that AJ was on the team to the best of her knowledge, but that Coach Gillispie was the guy to ask. Sounds to me like she knew something was up, but not the whole story. UK Athletics has made no statement.

At this point, it all becomes speculation, and in a situation like this, speculation can only do harm. When some more concrete information is available, I will post away.

In the mean time, don’t forget that Jodie Meeks is available for chat at 1 pm today on Cat Scratches.