TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

South Florida Kicks Mercer Off Team After 2nd Arrest

ADVERTISEMENT

By GREGG BECNEL

Tribune correspondent

Published: January 26, 2009

Mike Mercer

Anthony Crater

TAMPA - University of South Florida junior guard Mike Mercer, who was arrested for the second time in four months Friday night, was dismissed from the program, USF coach Stan Heath said Monday.

USF freshman guard Anthony Crater, who also was arrested with Mercer on charges of possession of marijuana, will remain at USF, Heath said. Mercer will remain on scholarship the rest of the semester.

"He's disappointed and pretty devastated," Heath said of Mercer. "He just feels like he's snakebitten. Unfortunately, he's just got to make better choices."

Heath purposefully took his time with the decision to dismiss Mercer.

"I didn't want to make any emotional decisions; the first 24 hours you've got to be careful of that. But my thoughts really never wavered."

Mercer transferred to USF from the University of Georgia last season. After becoming eligible after the first semester, Mercer started at point guard in four games this year before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Mercer, 22, was arrested in September for public consumption of alcohol.

As a sophomore at Georgia, the 6-foot-4 Mercer led the Bulldogs in scoring (13.7 points) and the year before that was named to the all-SEC freshman team. He was then suspended for the first 15 games of the 2007-08 season after violating the school's academic policy and transferred to USF last season.

Mercer will have one year eligibility remaining in 2009-10 if he transfers to a Division II or NAIA school.

Crater, 19, transferred to USF from Ohio State in December 2008. He won't be eligible at USF until December and will have 2½ years eligibility remaining. Heath said Crater realizes he can't make any more mistakes.

"Crater knows," Heath said. "He knows his life's not going to be very exciting for a while."

The Bulls (7-12, 2-5 Big East) visit Louisville (15-3, 6-0) on Wednesday and St. John's on Sunday before returning home to host Marquette on Feb. 6.

"It's a privilege to play sports," Heath said. "You obviously can't just think about yourself. … You get chance No. 1, you get chance No. 2; at some point in time you've got to make adjustments that the program is bigger than what you are."

Reporter Brett McMurphy contributed to this report.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT