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Charlotte dismisses leading scorer DeMario Mayfield from program

DeMario Mayfield, Jeff Short

Charlotte’s DeMario Mayfield (11) shoots over Fordham’s Jeff Short (5) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. Charlotte won 74-68. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

AP

Charlotte announced on Friday that junior guard DeMario Mayfield has been dismissed from the program.

Mayfield, who began his college career at Georgia, has not played since being suspended indefinitely for a violation of athletic department policy on January 30. In 18 games this season Mayfield averaged 11.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, scoring 17 points in the 49ers’ 82-54 loss to George Washington on January 26.

And with today’s news, that game will be the final one that Mayfield plays in a Charlotte uniform.

“The coaching staff wants to wish DeMario the best in his future endeavors,” head coach Alan Major said in the statement. “We will continue to move forward as a team.”

Since Mayfield was suspended Charlotte has gone 2-3, with one of the victories being a 71-67 win at No. 15 Butler on February 13. With Mayfield having missed this many games already Charlotte won’t have an adjustment to make when it comes to their rotation.

The bigger concern for Alan Major’s team is their home game against Temple on Sunday afternoon, with Charlotte having lost three of its last four games.

After Sunday’s game Charlotte’s final four regular season games will be against teams beneath them in the Atlantic 10 standings, which opens the door for the 49ers to pick up a few wins before the conference tournament in Brooklyn.

But if Charlotte doesn’t take better care of the basketball (they’ve turned the ball 15 times or more in each of their last three defeats) locking up a spot in the Atlantic 10 tournament will be tougher than it should be.

Raphielle also writes for the NBE Basketball Report and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.