Thursday, September 25, 2008

Higgins not at NMSU but is in New Mexico

Now Gary Parrish has gotten into the act and is reporting that New Mexico State freshman point Johnny Higgins is at a junior college in The Land of Enchantment.

Gary Parrish
September 24, 2008


Johnny Higgins is leaving New Mexico State before he ever played a game.

"He's going to transfer," Higgins' former AAU coach, Anthony Lewis, told CBSSports.com by phone. "He's transferring to New Mexico Junior College."

Though Lewis said he had no knowledge of an incident, a source told CBSSports.com that Higgins was involved in a physical altercation that precipitated this development. Reached by phone late Wednesday, New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies declined comment but said the school did plan to make a Thursday morning announcement about Higgins, a 6-2 point guard who played at Notre Dame Prep last season...

A quick question: This same thing took place last season with Troy Gillenwater, Hamidu Rahman and Robert Lumpkins each getting acclimated to post-high school life and school with enrollments into the New Mexico junior college ranks. For the record, they were not 'exiled' due to any behavioral issues. We have no idea how many units each was enrolled in but did wonder at the time about the affordability of out-of-state tuition for the trio. The same goes for Higgins who recently arrived in the state.

Let's hope Coach Menzies clears up the Higgins situation today with either a press conference or an official statement. To us, it appears Higgins has the possibility of earning his way back to the Aggies because there's no other reason for him to be at a junior college in New Mexico.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Huh?????? What are you talking about dude. Gillenwater, Rahman, Lumpkins, and Joyner were enrolled at New Mexico State last year. New Mexico Junior College is in Hobbs, New Mexico. That is in Southeastern, New Mexico.

Kevin McCarthy said...

Apparently some clarification is needed because Jason Groves reported last year that Dona Ana Community College had Gillenwater, Rhaman and Lumpkins as students:

By swasson -- http://www.bleedcrimson.net/
NMSU Recruits Getting Head Start
http://bleedcrimson.net/node/902
February 12, 2008

Written by: Jason Groves/Sun-News Reporter

LAS CRUCES - Spending time in high major programs has made an impact on New Mexico State University men's basketball coach.

Menzies was hired as a first-time Division I coach in large part to a successful career recruiting, which he has proven in his short time in Las Cruces.

Menzies, like those that he has worked under, likes to get the most of his talent.

"I like the idea of bringing in recruits and them not playing for a year so they can understand what college life is like," Menzies said. "Utilizing the Doña Ana Community College, we have been able to bring in some kids who weren't initial qualifiers out of high school."

With current redshirts Troy Gillenwater, Hamidu Rahman and Robert Lumpkins already at the branch campus...