A.J. Ratliff no longer on IU men's basketball team

IU senior A.J. Ratliff is no longer on the IU men’s basketball team, said IU athletics media relations director J.D. Campbell on Tuesday afternoon. \n“He was dealing with personal things,” Campbell said. “It was probably in his and everyone’s best interest that he not return to the team.”\nCampbell said he was not kicked off the team.\nRatliff missed the past two games, and did not travel with the team to deal with “personal issues.”\nIU coach Kelvin Sampson said Sunday he wanted to meet with his senior guard early this week to figure out what was best for Ratliff moving forward. Sampson acknowledged at that time that the best thing might be taking Ratliff off the team. \nRatliff was academically ineligible for the first nine games of the year, and he missed the three following games with an ankle injury. Since then, he’s had limited success, averaging just 1.7 points in nine games. \nThe athletics department will likely release a statement on Ratliff’s departure later today, Campbell said.