Daeshun Ruffin to 'step away' from Ole Miss basketball team
The Daeshun Ruffin era at Ole Miss is not over but it is taking an undetermined hiatus to as he focuses on himself, according to a statement released by the men’s basketball team.
Ruffin’s statement, which came out on Tuesday hours before Ole Miss is scheduled to host Kentucky, announced his decision to “step away” from the program in an attempt to better his mental and physical health.
The announcement comes after Ruffin was unavailable for last Saturday’s game at Oklahoma State due to a coach’s decision.
“In hopes of regaining 100 percent mental and physical health, I have decided to step way from the team and take every action necessary to get well,” Ruffin’s statement read. “However, this is not me giving up on the game I love, but simply taking time to return to full health. I look forward to being back with my Ole Miss teammates in the future and giving them and you the very best version of me.”
Ruffin’s second season in Oxford started off bumpy, suffering a bone bruise in the exhibition game and missing the first seven games of the season. He was already returning from an ACL injury suffered 10 months prior when he played his first game of the season on Dec. 3 at Memphis.
In 11 games played Ruffin started two of them, coming mostly off the bench behind guards Amaree Abram and Matthew Murrell. He was still the second leading scorer on the team averaging 9.5 points per game behind Murrell’s 14.9 ppg.
Even returning from injury Ruffin struggled to look like the player he was prior to last season’s injury.
“Daeshun is just going through some things that we thought would be better for him to be at home,” Davis said on Saturday. “We’ll meet with him (on Sunday) and we love him, dearly, and pulling for him. Just coming back from a hard injury and he’s not the same. It’s some things that I know we’re going to work through.”
Ole Miss (9-12, 1-7 SEC) might be without Ruffin and Murrell for a second straight game as the latter is a game time decision. Murrell suffered a right knee injury at Arkansas on Jan. 21 and has not played since.
