STARKVILLE — Mississippi State junior forward Kodi Augustus made a public apology Tuesday afternoon for comments he made following Saturday”s season-opening 88-74 loss to Rider University.
After the game, Augustus voiced his displeasure about lack of playing time and criticized MSU coach Rick Stansbury by saying, “I talked to my dad. He said we got out-coached. I don”t know.”
Augustus said that statement was made out of frustration and was sorry for his choice of words.
“They were immature comments and it will never happen again,” Augustus said. “I need to grow up and not let that happen. I wanted to be out there and wanted to help. I thought I wasn”t out there as much as I should be. It”s over now and I apologized.”
It turns out that Augustus may have overreacted to the situation of playing time.
There was a discrepancy in the final boxscore which showed that Augustus only played 15 minutes. He played an undetermined more minutes than that, but Stansbury said the comments shouldn”t have been made whether Augustus played 1 minute or 40 minutes.
Stansbury has suspended Augustus for the next two games as well as other undisclosed disciplinary measures within the program.
“We”ll see how he handles all of that,” Stansbury said. “If he handles everything fine, then he”ll be back where he was.”
Augustus said he has no other choice than to accept his punishment and support the team from the bench.
“I”ll cheer them on these two games I”m out and will be their No. 1 fan,” Augustus said.
Stansbury understands what Augustus did was out of frustration and said there have been no other problems out of him this fall. He isn”t worried about any chemistry problems because of what has taken place.
“What was said is what was said and Kodi will have to be the one to repair those damages,” Stansbury said. “He understands that. You can do well for six months and it doesn”t take 30 minutes to tear down what you”ve built.
“When you do things in life, you”re accountable for it. When you don”t do right, you are accountable. I think he”s remorseful.”
Augustus tried to express his regret following a team meeting on Sunday. His teammates accepted his apology and understood the situation.
“It”s done,” MSU center Jarvis Varnado said. “That was just frustration coming from Kodi. Kodi knew he was wrong. You can”t do that, no matter how frustrated you get. There”s no bad blood. We”ve moved on and are looking forward to the next game.”
The Bulldogs play host to the University of Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m. Thursday.
n Notes: MSU sophomore point guard Dee Bost pulled a groin muscle during Monday”s practice and his availability for Thursday”s game is in doubt. “We”ll have to wait and see how severe it is,” Stansbury said. “He pulled it Monday when we were going through warm-ups. We need for Dee to be able to play.” If Bost can”t go, senior Barry Stewart will be forced to play the point. … Freshman guard Shaun Smith, of Noxubee County High School in Macon, has a labrum tear in his hip and is scheduled to have an MRI on Thursday. If Smith has surgery, he could miss the rest of the season. … MSU announced the signing of junior college guard Brian Bryant. Bryant, of Albany, Ga., is a sophomore at Northwest Florida State College. He chose the Bulldogs over Auburn and Southern Mississippi. “I felt it was a great fit for me because they are losing a senior guard in Barry Stewart,” Bryant said. “I loved the athletic and academic facilities. My goal was to play in the SEC.”
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