Johnson quits LSU basketball team

BATON ROUGE, La., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Forward Shawonson Johnson is no longer a member of the men's basketball team at Louisiana State after leaving the squad in bizarre fashion three days ago.

At halftime of the Tigers' 65-44 win over Delaware State on Tuesday night, Johnson, a starter, told Coach John Brady that he was quitting.

According to Brady, Johnson, a 6-9, 242-pound junior from Shreveport, La., will not be allowed to rejoin the team.

"I need to move forward and coach the guys that want to be here," Brady said. "(Players) who understand what commitment is and what playing hard's about and accepting and taking coaching. There's some things we can do. We're going to be fine with that. It's a waste of my time to discuss it."

Various reports indicate Johnson, who has been unavailable for comment, was irked about a perceived lack of playing time.

Brady shrugged off the perception.

"We've got some guys on this team that have been through some tough times," said Brady. "They faced much bigger problems than not playing for 20 minutes."

This season, Johnson had a team-high 10 points and 13 rebounds in LSU's opener against Nicholls State. He played 19 minutes against South Alabama and 13 against Texas A&M.

According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Johnson got into hot water in the Tigers' first exhibition game on Nov. 2 by going through warmups with his hair styled in cornrows, which is a violation of team rules. That standard was set by the players.