Basketball players Wainright, Ewing have left Burroughs team
Burroughs High boys’ basketball Coach Adam Hochberg confirmed late Thursday that starting senior transfer players Amaad Wainright and Rashid Ewing have left the team.
Both players transferred to Burroughs from Kansas City, Mo during the offseason and played just one abbreviated season for the Indians.
“Wainwright and Ewing have quit the team and left school,” Hochberg said. “They left the team over the weekend and checked out of school Tuesday. Yeah, they bailed out on us.”
Hochberg said a problem with the players’ grades, along with being homesick, prompted them to depart Burroughs and go back home to Missouri.
“The big part of it was a graduation issue at Burroughs,” the coach said. “There was a problem that the district wasn’t giving them credit for some of the classes and they were going to have to go to adult school. They hadn’t started that and basically they were offered a better deal to go back home, where they don’t have to make up those classes and they can graduate.”
On Wainright’s Twitter account, he said good bye to his friends at Burroughs.
“This is for everyone at John Burroughs. I just want to say thank you for everything y’all have done for me and my cousin. I enjoyed y’all,” it read.
Ewing also took to his Twitter account in response to his departure.
“Respect to all JBHS Fans (sic) and students and all the friends I made at Burroughs,” it read. “I’m going to miss you too, good luck in playoffs.”
The departure of the players comes at an inopportune time for the Burroughs team. The Indians are scheduled to open the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA playoffs Friday with a first-round game, as they travel to Placentia Valencia. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
“It will be tough,” Hochberg said. “We have some kids who really want to go out there and play. We will just do the best that we can.
“[Wainright and Ewing] weren’t bad kids, they just weren’t used to being coached.”
With the duo, Burroughs went 16-10 and tied for third in the Pacific League with an 8-6 record. The Indians went 6-1 and tied for first place in league after the first round, but slipped to 2-5 in the second round.
Wainright led Burroughs in scoring, averaging 24.9 points a game. He also averaged 12.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 3.1 steals and 1.9 blocks. In addition, he averaged double figures in every game and his season high was 43 against Valencia on Dec 4.
Ewing averaged 15.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals a game.