Vante Hendrix leaves Utah basketball program

Ok, to start here is the official statement from Coach Krystkowiak on Vante Hendrix leaving the program:

Vante Hendrix is no longer be a member of our basketball program and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Now, I’m not huge speculation guy, but that reads to me like it was a messy divorce. This news troubles me for a couple of reasons. First, I thought Hendrix was shaping up to be a player. Now, that hasn’t stopped Coach K from showing players the door in the past for multiple reasons, but I was really excited to see him come in and give the Utes a boost. Second, and I know this is the new norm for college basketball now, but I would love to see some more roster stability from the program. I give the coaching staff the benefit of the doubt with most, if not all the players that have left over the years, but it’s become too frequent to see things like this happening.

Hendrix was T’d up in the opener against Hawaii down at the Wooden Legacy, and we didn’t see him again after that. Obviously, I don’t know the story of why Hendrix is no longer with the program, but it’s disappointing that he’s no longer with the team.

Fortunately, the Utes still have a lot of great, young talent on the team, with some more coming next season. So Coach K and staff have done a hell of a job recruiting, but they are off to a slow start, and this is shaping up to be a rebuilding season up on The Hill. Here’s hoping they can sure up the lineup, and start to build that continuity moving forward.