Senior Albrey Grimsley, who had played the second-most minutes for Miami and was its second leading scorer this season, left the team last Saturday after an exchange with a teammate concerning poor shot selection.
“That’s when it started for me because we’ve lost a ton of games because of bad shots being taken,” Grimsley said. “That’s the part that really ticked me off. We’ve lost a ton of games doing that.”
Grimsley said her frustration stemmed from the fact she has lingering leg injuries and wasn’t pleased having to continually run up and down the court following bad shots.
Head coach Katie Meier asked Grimsley to leave practice after Grimsley exchanged words with the teammate.
Grimsley said she knew then she wouldn’t return because the exchange confirmed she had not helped her teammates.
“It was time to go,” Grimsley said. “Another thing is my body definitely had had it. Between aches and pains and stuff like that, I didn’t want to keep doing something that I wasn’t helping the people that I was doing it for, because I’ve never done it for me. It’s not something that I just love to do. I just wanted them to believe that they could win. I didn’t feel like enough people believed that.
“I think the coaching staff did because they put in a lot of work to go out there but it’s just a matter of us as a whole unit executing the game plan. The coaching staff did a fairly good job,” she added.
Grimsley had played in every game during her four-year UM career before leaving the team prior to the game against North Carolina last week.
“I wish her the best,” Meier said. “She did what she needed to do.”
Grimsley said she maintains a good relationship with her former teammates.
“I left on a negative [note], but I’m still a positive person,” she said. “I wish the best for everybody. I hope and pray that [the direction the team is going] is up.”
Grimsley said she now uses the time formerly dedicated to the baseketball team to be with her family and concentrate on her classes, although she has already earned her degree.
“I like it and my body loves it,” she said. “Much needed rest.”
In an unrelated incident, Kathryn Hester was suspended for the remainder of the season for a violation of team rules. Due to school policy on rule violations, neither Hester nor any member of the team was able to comment.
This marks the second consecutive year a player has left the team for personal reasons. Brittany Denson left following the first semester of the 2006-07 season, transferring to the University of South Florida. She now plays center for the Bulls after sitting out the NCAA-required two semesters. Denson declined to comment.
“We’re a different team,” Meier said. “We had to change a few things offensively. I give a lot of credit to my kids. That’s part of playing basketball in college.”
Corey Erb may be contacted at c.erb@umiami.edu.