Minnesota coach Tubby Smith has suspended two players indefinitely for breaking team rules.
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Smith would not say Tuesday why freshman forward Royce White and senior guard Devron Bostick were in trouble. They'll be held out of exhibitions Thursday (against Minnesota Duluth) and Monday (against Minnesota State Moorhead) and possibly more, until Smith decides they're ready to return to the No. 25-ranked Gophers.
"It could be two games. It could be five, six. It could be more," Smith said, adding: "It could be 20. It depends on what I want, what I decide."
White has a Nov. 17 arraignment scheduled for two misdemeanor citations, theft and fifth degree assault, stemming from an Oct. 13 incident at the Mall of America in Bloomington, a suburb of Minneapolis, according to the city attorney's office.
Bostick is a reserve who averaged 11 minutes per game last season. White was dismissed from DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis last year for academic misconduct before finishing his prep career at Hopkins.
White is part of a touted recruiting class that includes transfer Trevor Mbakwe, who is also out indefinitely while a felony aggravated battery charge against him goes through the legal process.
"If you do something wrong, our guys know that playing time ... is a privilege," Smith said. "We expect them to conduct themselves in a proper way. When they don't, unfortunately they force our hands and force us to do something we really don't want to do."
