College Sports

Rising senior Billy Humphrey, Georgia’s second leading scorer this past season at 12.2 points per game, has been kicked off the Bulldog squad, according to head coach Dennis Felton.

Humphrey, a 20 year old, was arrested early Tuesday morning and charged with DUI, failure to maintain his lane, and the underage purchase of alcohol. He was taken to the Gwinnett County jail at 3:32 a.m.

It was his third arrest in less than a year.

“I am disappointed in Billy,” said Felton. “We’ve worked really hard with him in the past to see that he succeeds, but I feel that it’s now best for our program to move forward without him.”

Humphrey played in 30 of the Bulldogs 34 games this past season, starting 28. In addition to his 12.2 points per game, he averaged 3.5 rebounds. He shot 37% from behind the 3-point line and 83% from the free throw line, both bests on the Georgia team.

The part of this story that grabs me is Dennis Felton. Felton was hired to clean up a Georgia basketball program that was running wild under former coach Jim Harrick. Harrick had turned the Bulldog program into a joke, with accusations of academic fraud. In five seasons at UGa, Felton has a record of 75-79, a winning percentage of .487. On the surface, that looks bad, but look a little deeper and see that Felton has had an uphill struggle to rebuild the program. Players have been dismissed and transfered.

This past year was supposed to be the turning point for the Dogs. They had the players to make a run, four starters returning. The previous year they had finished 19-14 and advanced to the NIT.

So what happened? Before the season even started, forward Takais Brown, the team’s leading returning scorer, and guard Mike Mercer, one of the top athletes on the team, were both kicked off. Brown (now playing professionally in Finland) had failed several drug tests, and Mercer (who transfered to South Florida) was dismissed for being a disruption. He had previously been suspended for not adhering to academic policies.

To add insult to injury, reserve center Rashad Singleton quit in January because he wanted more playing time, and freshmen forwards Jeremy Jacob and Chris Barnes each suffered season-ending injuries.

So Georgia entered the rugged SEC schedule with one arm tied behind it’s back. But a run through the conference tournament saved Felton’s job… at least for now. Georgia, the sixth-seed in the East, won the tournament with a 66-57 victory over Arkansas.

In short, Felton was hired to bring discipline to a program that lacked it. He is doing that, but it isn’t easy. He’s made some recruiting mistakes that have haunted him. Attrition is a problem in the program (players have transferred out in addition to those kicked off). This isn’t a time when schools can sit by and let that happen, as the NCAA will impose penalties for lack of academic progress within the program.

But I hope Georgia doesn’t bail out on Felton (like many schools do!). Given a full chance, Felton will win at UGa… he’s a winner, and he’ll do it the right way.

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