UGASports.com is reporting that freshman combo guard DeMario Mayfield has asked for his release from the Georgia Basketball program. Mayfield participated in 18 of 31 games last season including 6 of 18 SEC contests. He averaged 0.9 points and scored in only 1 game after New Year's.
Update: Drazen is out too.
His best game of the season was against the Gators at home when he gave us 5 points and 1 assist in 4 minutes of action. All of his contributions in that game were critical to the victory.
What does this mean?
When Dennis Felton lost players it was often high profile contributors like Mike Mercer, Takais Brown, Billy Humphrey, and Channing Toney. That was a HUGE problem and the single biggest barrier to his success other than not being a talented coach. (#suckerpunch)
Losing players like Younes Idrissi, Reshad Singleton, Marcus Sikes and Kendrick Johnson wasn't Felton's problem. It's rarely a bad thing for your bottom tier performers to walk away. It frees up scholarships and can actually accelerate a turn around project.
Mayfield is a curious kid. He definitely had more upside than the Idrissi's of the world, but he seemed unlikely to become a front line starter either. Additionally, Fox reportedly asked the kid to stick around. I'm not shocked to have some player attrition, and I don't think we're done yet because Drazen is still on campus. That's not a mean spirited shot at Draz, it's just that he's obviously the 12th most talented guy on a 12 man roster. But I would've liked to see Mayfield give it one more year.
If Fox replaces Mayfield with a better recruit in the 2011 recruiting class, this is a net positive for Georgia. If he doesn't it wasn't. If I were laying odds, I'd say this works out in our favor. Between Gerald Robinson, Jr., Dustin Ware, Vincent Williams, Ebuka and Travis Leslie we've got the 1, 2 and 3 spots reasonably well addressed for next season.
Add a JUCO shooting guard as rumored or Dwayne Polee at SF, and losing Mayfield is not a material event.
Best of luck to the kid. He helped us beat the Gators, and he stayed out of trouble. For that I have very little negative to say about him, and neither should any Dawg fans who are being fair.
Georgia now has 3 scholarships to give in 2010 in addition to the already signed Cady Lalanne (PF). We also have 4 to give in 2011 if Trey bolts, and more if Drazen or Travis leave (for wildly different reasons). I expect us to offer 3 this year and 5 next year. If we sign and enroll 5 legit high major recruits in 2011, it will be the first time that we've done so since the 1992 recruiting class that included Carlos Strong, Shandon Anderson, Pertha Robinon, Terrell Bell and I forgot the other guy.
The 2011 class is positively enormous for the future of UGA hoops.
PWD
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