The saga of Stefhon Hannah has finally come to its not-so-shocking end.

In a statement released by the athletic department, Hannah was released from the Missouri basketball team for failure to attend classes for the last two weeks. Hannah has not been in school since suffering a broken jaw after a fight at Athena Night Club on Jan. 27.

“Young people make mistakes, it is part of the maturation process as a youth, but when we came to Missouri, we promised the parents, our administration and our fans that we would help turn these boys into men by the time they left our program,” Missouri coach Mike Anderson said in the statement.

Hannah met with Anderson on Tuesday, the first face-to-face meeting since Anderson spoke with Hannah in the hospital on Jan. 27. Anderson told media on Monday that Hannah was still indefinitely suspended because he hadn’t been around to apologize to his teammates and coaches, nor was he around to serve any of the behind-the-scenes punishments that the other four suspended players had to endure.

“There’s some things, if in fact he was here, that he’d be able to do, but he hadn’t because he’s not here,” Anderson said on Monday.

Hannah will be allowed to keep his scholarship through the summer if he wants to finish school. It is unclear whether he will take Mizzou up on that offer.  Hannah is currently taking 13 hours this semester and needs 25 total hours to graduate.

“Part of becoming a young man is accepting the consequences of your actions, not compounding them,” Anderson said. “We will continue to support Stefhon through this difficult time and his health continues to be our primary concern. We certainly hope he decides to remain in school to work towards his degree. Stefhon will always have a family here at Missouri and we look forward to watching him grow throughout his life.”

Here’s a little aside from my perspective…

Releasing Hannah for not attending classes relieves Anderson from having to explain why he didn’t release Horton, who seemingly had the same level of involvement in the Athena incident. Both players were arrested for third-degree assault. Horton was suspended two games.

Anderson did say that if Horton was charged, there might be additional punishment. Boone County prosecutors have until March 3 to file charges against the Hannah and/or Horton.