The Biggest Malcontents in College Basketball in 2014-15

Inevitably in life, some rain is going to fall. Although this has been a solid college basketball season, with Kentucky, Duke, Virginia and all the other great teams and storylines out there, it hasn't been smooth sailing for all parties.

And you know what? We must embrace this portion of the narrative. Only through the bad times do we come to appreciate the good times. And so on and so forth. 

This is all a possibly unnecessarily frilly way of saying that some people are going to be unhappy. Sometimes, that unhappiness is their own fault, and sometimes it is not. Sometimes when this all happens, it is not in college basketball. But don't kid yourself: Sometimes it is.

These are the biggest malcontents of the 2014-15 season. The ranking is admittedly subjective, but it's generally based on two main things: the perceived level of malcontent and/or dissatisfaction, or factors on or off the court that are conducive to a frustrating situation. Those two factors are then coupled with the impact those circumstances have had on the individual, the team and the national college basketball landscape.

Make sense? That's good. Want to add something? I'm sure that won't happen, but in the interest of following proper procedure, we've still provided a comments section. Please don't let any of this make you malcontent. As you will see, malcontentment is not a positive for anyone involved. Thanks.

7. Caris LeVert, Michigan

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

He handled it with admirable aplomb, but it was still majorly upsetting to everyone involved when Caris LeVert, Michigan's leading scorer, was forced to miss the rest of the season with a foot injury.

He tweeted on January 18: "Thanks everybody for the prayers and support! I'll be back better than ever God doesn't make mistakes."

Michigan has gone 2-1 since LeVert's exit, with the lone loss a close overtime defeat to Big Ten juggernaut Wisconsin. Nevertheless, the Wolverines will continue to miss LeVert, who led the team in points (14.9), assists (3.7) and rebounds (4.9) per game.

DraftExpress had also projected him as an NBA pick just outside the lottery, but not anymore. 

6. Kelly Oubre, Kansas

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Wherever Kelly Oubre is, it's dark. I can barely see him, and he can barely see anyone else. When you're buried as deeply on the bench as he is, it's understandable.

The 6'7" freshman was one of the most promising young bucks in the country coming into the season. But Oubre and fellow Kansas freshman Cliff Alexander have both struggled to gain a foothold in the rotation, thanks to problems with consistency.

Head coach Bill Self characterizes Oubre's bench burial as a function of Oubre's failure to "figure it out." Ouch.

“Some of the younger guys, it’s pretty tough for them to get it,” junior forward Jamari Traylor said of Oubre, according to Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star. “It’s a learning process every game, especially to go out there and do what (Self) wants you to do all the time.”

It hasn't been a smooth ride for the NBA hopeful, even if he seems to be turning a corner of late. Still, he appears to be on a short leash, playing only 10 minutes in a Jan. 28 win over TCU. It's getting better for Oubre, and his attitude has been admirable, but the slow burn to prominence can't be a good feeling.

5. Eli Carter, Florida

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Eli Carter was supposed to help lead the Florida Gators this season. It hasn't happened.

The junior from New Jersey is third on the Gators in scoring with 7.7 points per game, but he's only shooting 37 percent. His 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio (an average of 1.9 of each per contest) doesn't help anything either.

His minutes have gone way up over last season, his first in Gainesville after transferring from Rutgers (21.1 minutes per game this year, compared with 7.6 last season). But they haven't stayed high thanks to his inconsistent play; he hasn't reached the 20-minute mark in three of the past 10 games. A nagging foot injury and, yes, a case of strep throat have kept him out of five games this season.

Coach Billy Donovan has said Carter was "really into himself" at various times. That's a red flag, as are the injuries. We'll see what Carter can do down the stretch for the 12-9 Gators, who are struggling in this campaign. 

4. Damyean Dotson, Oregon

Chris Pietsch/Associated Press

At first glance this might seem like an odd addition, given that Damyean Dotson hasn't seen the court all season.

But it's probably safe to call him a malcontent, given that the Oregon Ducks dismissed him over the offseason, along with teammates Brandon Austin and Dominic Artis.

The three were linked to a sexual assault investigation, and that sealed their basketball fate in Oregon. In May, though, the local district attorney dropped the charges against him. 

Dotson is the one included here because his 9.4 points per game last season seemed to position the 6'5" guard to be a substantial contributor for the Ducks this season.

The controversy has cooled off lately, but it seems the players may have been considering options for returning to the court. That would seem to signal discontent, regardless of how one might feel about the alleged actions of the players. 

On July 10, 2014, Andrew Greif of The Oregonian wrote: 

"

Differences in opinion regarding how the investigation was handled and punishment meted out remain stark as ever...Despite never being charged Austin, Artis and Dotson have each felt a cool reception in their searches for a new team after being dismissed from the Ducks' program in late April for conduct "unbecoming of an Oregon student-athlete."

"

3. Montrezl Harrell, Louisville

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You have to respect Montrezl Harrell's competitive spirit, I suppose. His profile has soared this season as the leader and best player for the No. 10 Louisville Cardinals.

So maybe some salty words after a loss are to be expected. But they seem to come fast and furious for the fiery Harrell, and he had a pretty harsh assessment of coach Rick Pitino after that recent loss to Duke, in which he noted that it was Pitino's job, not his, to find ways of getting him the ball more often.

It's not the first time this season he has squeezed off some friendly fire. He also apparently has had harsh assessments of the team's younger players in practice. So harsh, in fact, that a resulting clash with Pitino on the subject led to Harrell stripping himself of his team captaincy. Whoa.

Take it easy, Montrezl. 

2. Kuran Iverson, Memphis

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

Twitter is a pretty convoluted way of providing clarity, if that makes any sense.

But when Kuran Iverson favorited a tweet that referred to Memphis coach Josh Pastner as a "fraud," it was telling enough, it seems, to earn him a two-game suspension.

The official suspension was only two games, but Iverson hasn't played since. It's apparently a continuation of a trend of both discontent from Iverson and hard-line discipline from Pastner. And it came to a head about a week ago, when Iverson announced he was transferring to Rhode Island.

1. Rasheed Sulaimon, Duke

Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press

Duke showing Rasheed Sulaimon the door earlier this week was clearly a moment of misfortune for the Blue Devils. Sulaimon is the first player ever to be outright dismissed from the team under coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Krzyzewski said in a news release that Sulaimon was "unable to consistently live up to the standards required to be a member of our program." Though it is not clear what precipitated the dismissal, it came after a tough loss to Notre Dame and was the culmination of a steady decline in playing time. He was averaging just 19.3 minutes per game this season, compared with 25.6 in 2013-14 and 29.2 the season before.

No question about it. Sulaimon is your top malcontent this season.

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com.