Shawnee coach: Bogan left school

The Will Bogan saga has taken another twist.

Bogan, a former Bell City basketball standout who spent his freshman season at Southeast Missouri State, has left his second school within a span of several months.

Shawnee (Ill.) Community College coach John Sparks said Wednesday that Bogan no longer is enrolled at the junior college and will not play for the Saints this season.

"I guess he decided this wasn't the place for him," Sparks said. "He left."

The 6-foot-10 Bogan departed Southeast following a solid freshman season. He enrolled at SCC during the summer and Sparks said Bogan began this semester attending classes at the campus in Ullin, Ill.

But Sparks said Bogan left the school shortly before the Saints began practice Oct. 1.

One Internet report suggested that Bogan had been dismissed from SCC, but Sparks said he "left on his own."

Sparks did say that Bogan's class attendance was spotty while at SCC.

"I think he went to some and didn't go to some," Sparks said.

Bogan averaged seven points and 3.7 rebounds per game for Southeast while hitting a team-high 56.6 percent of his field-goal attempts last season. He made three starts and averaged 15.4 minutes per contest.

It was announced in May that Bogan would not be eligible academically to play for the Redhawks during the first semester of this season.

Bogan could have regained his eligibility for the second semester by performing well enough in the classroom during the first semester.

Sources told the Southeast Missourian that Bogan did not have his scholarship renewed by the Redhawks this summer, after which he decided to continue his basketball career in junior college.

That still could happen, but it apparently won't be at SCC. Sparks said he did not know what Bogan plans to do.