Cooper Ainge goes up for the jumper against ACU. Ainge has only played four minutes since the start of the regular season. (Ari Davis)
BYU men's basketball coach Dave Rose announced Thursday after practice that Cooper Ainge had left the team to focus on his school work.
'Cooper Ainge has left the team,' Rose said. 'He's just going to concentrate on his education and his academics.'
Cooper had some playing time during the exhibition games. But he only played four minutes aginst UVU and didn't come off the bench at Long Beach Monday night.
BYU is a competitive place to play guard. Seniors Kyle Collinsworth and Chase Fischer will graduate this year, but the Cougars have several standout freshman guards. Nick Emery, Jordan Chatman and Zac Seljaas have all seen more playing time than Ainge.
No word yet on if the freshman has plans to transfer to another program.