Former Jayhawk Carlton Bragg Jr. steps away from Arizona State basketball program

By Matt Tait Oct 27, 2017

Nick Krug

Carlton Bragg and the Kansas Jayhawks warm up prior to their Nov. 11, 2016, meeting with Indiana, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Former Kansas forward Carlton Bragg Jr., who left KU following the 2016-17 season to transfer to Arizona State is stepping away from basketball.

According to a story from The Arizona Republic’s Brad Haller, Bragg has been “away from the team for what the school has called personal reasons.”

“We’re very supportive of what he’s going through and we’re hopeful to get him back soon,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley told Haller.

Bragg, a former McDonald’s All-American who struggled mightily during his sophomore season at Kansas after a promising freshman year, elected to transfer to Arizona State in May.

In addition to generating unflattering off-the-court headlines and dealing with suspensions a season ago, Bragg’s confidence appeared to sink and he played in 31 of KU’s 36 games, averaging just 13.8 minutes per game after opening the season as a starter.

The 6-foot-9, 220-pound Cleveland native averaged 5.2 points and 4.1 rebounds for the Jayhawks last season.

Because of NCAA transfer rules Bragg was ineligible to compete for the Sun Devils this season, but Hurley said recently that Bragg and two other ASU transfers who are sitting out were “pretty talented.”

“Next year is going to be exciting,” Hurley added. “They do a lot in practices and push us every day.”

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.