McCray ruled academically ineligible for spring semester

Addressing the media for the first time since senior guard Chris McCray was ruled academically ineligible by the NCAA on Monday, coach Gary Williams expressed regret yesterday for something he said hasn't happened in his previous 27 seasons as a head coach.

"It's something that I personally take responsibility for," Williams said. "No one feels worse than Chris about this situation, but you beat yourself up as a coach thinking that there's some way this can be avoided."

Williams said the Terps knew for some time their captain and leading scorer was on the verge of becoming ineligible, but the results came in Monday saying he will not be allowed to travel or play with the team, effectively ending his collegiate career.

"All along you know how a player's doing academically," Williams said. "You get his test results and try to do as much as you can. We're not allowed to talk to professors or anything like that being coaches here.

"There just comes a time where you have to walk into that exam - you've all taken exams - and you have to hit it. Nobody here can take exams for players. ... This is a pretty tough place to compete academically, but it's a great place to get an education and a great place to play basketball."

The NCAA mandates players maintain a 2.0 cumulative grade-point average through the fall semester in order to play in the spring. In an interview with The Washington Post, McCray's mother, Shirleeta, said her son did not maintain that average.

Shirleeta McCray also stressed frustration that the coaching staff did not notify her earlier about her son's standing.

"They make sure he goes to practice; they should have made sure his grades and things were straight for him to be eligible," she told the Post. "I'm not only going to fault Chris; I'm going to fault everyone up there."

Williams said he wouldn't have expected a senior to become academically ineligible after spending more than three years in the system, but he noted that the program likes to give players more individual responsibility as they progress in their careers.

"If we wake a player up in the morning and get him to go to class, are we helping him?" Williams asked rhetorically. "There's a fine line there a lot of times about how much you should be doing, because you want these guys being able to go out and be productive when you leave here."

Shirleeta McCray could not be reached for comment yesterday, and the team's media relations representative said Chris would not be made available for comment.

In a statement released by the Athletics Department on Monday, McCray apologized to his family, teammates and coaches and said he will continue to pursue his criminal justice degree.

McCray is allowed to practice with the team, but Williams said such an arrangement still needs to be worked out. Williams said McCray's first priority will be his classwork this spring, but the 6-foot-5 guard should have an opportunity to play in Europe if not professionally in the United States.

With McCray unable to play, Mike Jones is expected to start tonight in Atlanta as the No. 18-ranked Terps (13-4, 3-2 ACC) aim for their first road victory of the season against Georgia Tech.

Players were not available for comment yesterday, but Williams said Jones is looking forward to the opportunity to play more minutes.

"Obviously, Mike would be the first guy to tell you he doesn't like getting his chance this way, but he's certainly going to get a great opportunity," Williams said. "And with another year to go, he can really do some things."

Without McCray - who led the team with an average of 15.2 points and also added 3.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.2 steals in a team-high 30.7 minutes per game this season - Williams said point guards Sterling Ledbetter and Parrish Brown will probably see more time, possibly pushing D.J. Strawberry to an off-guard position for stretches.

"You can't let anything be an excuse for the way you play," Williams said. "D.J. Strawberry going down last year was not an excuse for not making the NCAA tournament last year. You have to just stay tough and try to play as well as you can. We're playing pretty well, and we've played well with Mike Jones out there on the court, so we expect to continue to play well.

"We still have a very good basketball team. We just have to make up for the loss of a really good player. And we've had to do it before."

Williams said the university uses one of the highest budgets in the ACC to help athletes academically, and he pledged to make sure a situation like this "never happens again." He also dismissed rumors that there are other members of his team in jeopardy of being ruled academically ineligible.

"The way the game is, there's an intense amount of pressure, especially on the really good players, not just to perform well in college and get the job done academically, but to get ready to play at the next level," Williams said. "We have to make sure that we understand the pressures that these people are under."

Contact reporter David Selig at dseligdbk@gmail.com.