Junior guard Brady Morningstar, who was arrested for driving while intoxicated earlier this month, spoke for the first time about his fall semester suspension when his team gathered for media day last Thursday.

“You live and you learn,” he said. “You make mistakes and I made a terrible mistake. I’m going to try to bring a positive out of it.”

At this point, Morningstar said, he is making amends the only way he can to his team: by helping his teammates improve, teaching the young guys and continuing to work out and learn the plays himself.

Junior center Cole Aldrich said he just wanted his teammate back on the court.

“Brady knows that he made a big mistake,” he said. “We’re just moving forward past it and saying, ‘We’re excited for you to get back and play with us.’”

Morningstar said support from friends and family was helping him move on,

“My teammates are my teammates,” he said. “They always have my back and I always have their back. It’s just something that helps me move on.”

Head coach Bill Self intended for Morningstar to have a big role in the rotation this year, but said a coach’s vision was hardly ever realized. With this season’s roster, Self has plenty of help to replace Morningstar, who averaged 30 minutes per game last season.

“We’ve got some other guys that are pretty good that are disappointed about the sequence of events where he doesn’t play but also may take advantage of an opportunity, too,” Self said. “That’s why we have depth.”

This was more than a learning experience for one player, Aldrich said.

“You get put in situations and people handle it differently, but we’ve just got to learn,” Aldrich said. “We’ve got to learn as a team on the court and off the court.”

— Edited by Alicia Banister