Dee Liles Dismissed From Women's Hoops Team
*UPDATED 2:41 p.m.*
Senior forward Dee Liles has been dismissed from the Maryland women's basketball team because of academic reasons, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject. She will remain at school on scholarship through the end of the fall semester on the condition that she attends classes, the source said.
The athletic department released a statement on Friday afternoon saying that Liles is no longer with the program. "We enjoyed having Dee as part of the Maryland basketball program," Coach Brenda Frese said in the release. "We wish her all the best in the future."
Liles is the third player to leave the program this offseason; guard Marah Strickland and reserve forward Drey Mingo transferred to South Carolina and Purdue, respectively.
With the loss of Liles and Strickland, and the graduation of Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman, Maryland has just one returning starter: sophomore center Lynetta Kizer, an All-Met from Potomac (Va.) who was named ACC freshman of the year. Kizer is the only player left who averaged more than six points a game last season.
Sophomores Anjale Barrett, Kim Rodgers and Yemi Oyefuwa are the only other players on the roster who played for the Terrapins last season. Maryland also has five freshmen and a senior transfer from Illinois on its roster.
Liles, who started 35 games, averaged 10.6 points and led the Terrapins (31-5) in rebounding (9), blocked shots (1.7) and field goal percentage (52.1). When she joined the team, Frese described her as "by far the most athletic forward we've ever had."
She was an All-Met at Riverdale Baptist in 2006 and committed to the Terrapins in high school but did not qualify academically. Liles then spent two seasons as Gulf Coast (Fla.) Community College and was named the national junior college player of the year before transferring to Maryland.
Attempts to reach Liles were unsuccessful.
By
Camille Powell
|
October 2, 2009; 12:25 PM ET
| Category:
Women's basketball
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Posted by: krae-kartoons | October 2, 2009 2:59 PM
this is terrible news. Why did Strickland and Mingo xfer?
Posted by: HughGRection | October 2, 2009 4:31 PM
I'm guessing here, but after being highly recruited, Drey Mingo saw less and less time as last season progressed. With Liles and Kizer as the main post players, she didn't figure much.
But, of course, now DL is gone. As for Marah, she wasn't either the combo GF like Marissa was, nor the scoring lead guard like KT, so I'm going to guess Coach ran her off.
Posted by: info_stuporhighway | October 2, 2009 10:12 PM
With all of the academic help the athletes get, it is hard to imagine any of them not passing their classes. It is too bad she wasted an excellent opportunity. I am interested to see how BF pulls this team together. Go Terps!
Posted by: tmcherv | October 4, 2009 7:53 AM
Another one of Jeff Waltz recruits leave WOW. Good luck Dee and keep the faith
Posted by: mrmaryland | October 5, 2009 8:23 AM
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Wow, this is a big blow to the team.
Best wishes to Dee. She's a phenomenal athlete and was always polite to fans. This must be a tough time for her, so I hope she's getting the support she needs.