Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury announced Monday that Renardo Sidney's suspension for fighting teammate Elgin Bailey in Hawaii just before Christmas has been lifted, and that Bailey is transferring out of the program.

“We wish him the best as he moves on,” Stansbury said. "Elgin has had to deal with some very tough injuries, but he’s worked very hard to get to where he is now. Wherever he ends up, I hope he’s able to have a lot of success. As for this team, it’s time to move on and learn from these mistakes. Hopefully, by sending Sid and Elgin home following the incident, a strong message was sent that this type of behavior is unacceptable."

Sidney and Bailey both missed MSU's losses to Hawaii (Dec. 25) and Saint Mary's (Dec. 29).

Mississippi State is 8-6.

The Bulldogs open SEC play Saturday against Alabama.

Mississippi State announced Friday that Renardo Sidney and Elgin Bailey have been suspended indefinitely for fighting each other in the stands at the Stan Sheriff Center in Hawaii. Both players were sent home. They will not play in Saturday's game at Hawaii or in Wednesday's game against St. Mary's. The wording of the release suggested Sidney and Bailey could return for the Bulldogs' SEC opener on Jan. 8 against Alabama.

"In my 13 years as a head coach, we’ve never had anything like this happen before,” said Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury. "I am very disappointed in the actions of Elgin Bailey and Renardo Sidney and in no way does it reflect the overall picture of our program. It is not how we want our men’s basketball team to be viewed nationally, and it is certainly not the conduct we expect of teammates in our program."

Sidney became eligible last Saturday and he's already been suspended twice. The former McDonald's All-American missed all of last season and the first nine games this season because of various NCAA violations. He's averaging 15.5 points through two games as a Bulldog.

ESPN cameras caught Mississippi State teammates Renardo Sidney and Elgin Bailey fighting in the stands during the Diamond Head Classic tournament in Hawaii late Friday. It's an incident that could end the college career of Sidney, a former McDonald's All-American whose time at MSU has been troubled.

“It’s disappointing," Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin told the Clarion-Ledger newspaper via text message. "Still gathering information, but it’s not how we want our school represented."

The NCAA suspended Sidney for all of last season and the first nine games this season for a variety of reasons. His first official appearance with Mississippi State came last Saturday in a loss to Virginia Tech. MSU coach Rick Stansbury then suspended Sidney for a game after an incident in practice. He returned Friday, scored 19 points in 19 minutes against San Diego, then fought his teammate in the stands.

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury declined comment to the Associated Press.

(Click this link to see video of the fight.)

Renardo Sidney made his unofficial official debut for Mississippi State on Wednesday night.

Predictably, he tired quickly.

"Renardo had a lot of fatigue," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said after the Bulldogs' 101-76 win over Belhaven. "He will have to get in better shape if we are going to use him a lot."

Sidney finished with 10 points and six rebounds in 15 minutes of this exhibition that was oddly timed by design because the former McDonald's All-American was suspended all of last season and for the first nine games this season after a NCAA investigation. The Bulldogs' ninth game was Tuesday against Alcorn State, and their 10th game is Saturday against Virginia Tech. So Stansbury put Belhaven in between to give Sidney a warmup of sorts, and that's the backstory that led to a December exhibition in Starkville.

What's troubling is that Sidney "had a lot of fatigue."

I was hoping that wouldn't be the case because I want to see the player I predicted would be a force in college whenever he started playing in college. By all accounts, Sidney was good in spots but far from a force against Belhaven. That'll need to change if the Bulldogs are to achieve what their roster, on paper, suggests is achievable.

It's National Signing Day.

I hope you're enjoying it.

There are no real surprises so far ... other than that LaQuinton Ross isn't expected to sign with Ohio State despite committing to the Buckeyes in August. The plan now, according to Ohio State beat writer Bob Baptist, is for Ross to visit OSU this weekend, then decide if he wants to sign with the school. Meantime, there are indications that Mississippi State might be back in the mix because two of Ross' summer teammates plan to enroll there.

Ross is from Mississippi.

MaxPreps.com ranks him seventh in the Class of 2011.

Rivals.com has updated its recruiting rankings to reflect recent commitments.

The top 20 now looks like this:

1. Kentucky
2. Duke
3. North Carolina
4. Arkansas
5. St. John's
6. Syracuse
7. Louisville
8. Arizona
9. Illinois
10. Oklahoma State
11. Baylor
12. Mississippi State
13. Ohio State
14. Rutgers
15. Michigan State
16. Alabama
17. Virginia Tech
18. Texas
19. Oregon
20. Xavier

The biggest mover from the last update is Mississippi State, which went from unranked to No. 12 after landing Rodney Hood (No. 21 at Rivals.com) and D.J. Gardner (No. 60 at Rivals.com). Meantime, Texas dropped from eighth to 18th because of the decommitment of Myck Kabongo (No. 24 at Rivals.com), an elite point guard who is now considering Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Syracuse in addition to the Longhorns.

Each time a person asks about Renardo Sidney, I explain that he's super-talented and still capable of becoming a first-round pick in the NBA Draft … as long he gets in shape and shows he understands he's a skilled post player, not a tall shooter. So you can imagine my disappointment when I read Brandon Marcello's take from this weeekend's Maroon-White scrimmage down at Mississippi State, particularly these two sentences:

[Sidney] flashed more frustration than skill on his way to 10 points. He finished 4-for-13 from the floor and attempted six shots beyond the arc.

(Seriously, Renardo? You've been on campus more than a year and had plenty of time to realize your best moments come when you use your body and skills to score in the paint, and yet you still went out and launched six 3-pointers in your first public scrimmage. So frustrating.)

"We’ve got to get him down to the block more; there's no question about that," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury told Marcello, and I couldn't agree more. "He has some ability to make those [3-point] shots out there, but that’s not where you’re going to make your living at. You’ve go to get on that block more. He’ll find ways to do that."

For Sidney's sake, I hope so. Because if he ever again wants to have a home as nice as the one his family rented in Los Angeles while he played high school basketball, Sidney is going to have to earn big paychecks. And though there are many ways to do that, the best way is to dominate around the basket, record double-doubles and let Ravern Johnson handle the 3-pointers when 3-pointers need to be handled.

Rodney Hood has verbally committed to Mississippi State.

MaxPreps.com ranks Hood No. 26 in the Class of 2011. The 6-foot-6 wing from Meridian, Miss.,chose the Bulldogs over offers from Louisville, Marquette and Florida State. He joins Deville Smith and Arnett Moultrie (transfer from UTEP) on the list of players expected to play for Mississippi State in 2011-12.

The Bulldogs are the favorites to win the SEC West this season.