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Texas Tech freshman Tyree Graham had an unpleasant announcement for the coaching staff Friday morning.
Citing family issues back home, Tech assistant coach Stew Robinson said Graham, a native of Durham, N.C., expressed his desire to leave the program and is no longer with the team.
Graham did not make the trip to Waco for Saturday's 73-61 loss to Baylor, though Tech did not suffer from his absence. It was his third missed game of the season with the other two coming against Stanford and TCU.
"We talked to him and tried to make sure that he thought it through and that that was something that he should and wanted to do," Robinson said. "We told him we would help him in any way that we could. Basically, it was a really big surprise."
In 13 non-conference appearances, Graham logged 14 minutes a game backing up starting point guard John Roberson, and he averaged 3.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
At 30 percent, Graham had the lowest field goal percentage on the team, but he went 13-for-15 from the free throw line - good for 86 percent, the highest on the team.
Coming into the season, Tech coach Pat Knight said having Graham round out a four-guard rotation with Roberson, Alan Voskuil and Nick Okorie made a difference in energy compared to last season when the backcourt lacked depth.
However, after the backcourt's performance through the first 35 minutes against Baylor, Tech may not miss Graham too much this season.
That means senior Michael Prince could see a lot more action. The Red Raiders tweaked their lineup by starting Prince at small forward in place of guard Nick Okorie. Although he fouled out, Prince finished with three points, six rebounds and two steals.
"What we have to do, we've been starting three guards a lot this year," Robinson said. "We may start two guards. What hurt us down the stretch after the first eight games was Mike Prince getting hurt and Michael Prince is back. He can play anywhere from the two to three to four for us."
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