WNST in Baltimore is reporting that Braxton Dupree has been granted his release from the University and is now free to transfer. This probably shouldn't be that big of a surprise to anyone as Dupree never seemed to gain confidence in his limited playing time this year and last, and the college game, especially in the ACC, seem to be too fast for Braxton. I think Braxton has a lot of potential and could possibly do well at a mid-major school (like Loyola of MD), but he has to want to get better and I think that has been a problem he's had since his freshman year. I think he's had streatches where he's improved, but he didn't maintain those improvements and never really gained confidence during his two years here.
Plus, with the incoming class of Jordan Williams and James Padgett, Dupree probably realized he would be playing behind both of those players going into his junior year and knew his playing time was going to decrease, rather than increase. Dino getting better in the low post (even though that isn't his primary position) and stealing some of Braxton's minutes probably made the decision easier as well.
WNST also reported that Jerome Burney might also be transfering and or giving up basketball all together, due to his reoccurring problems with his foot. Burney credit wise is at lease a junior, after being redshirted his freshman year. I've heard he might be able to graduate after the upcoming fall semester, but that wasn't reported today on WNST.
I feel really bad for Burney, becasue when he was able to play, he played hard and pretty well. I think he could have been a starter this year if he didn't have this reoccurring foot problem.
I also feel bad for Brax, because I think he could be a good center, but he still needs to be refined. From what I heard, his situation was similar to the "you can lead a horse to water but can't force them to drink" metaphore.
If Burney does indeed leave or transfer, that would open up two scholarships (assuming Vaz stays, which I think he will. I think someone reported that he "stopped going to classes" in a comment on a previous post, which according to people I know who have classes with him, isn't true) so Maryland could land both Stephenson and Painter and that explains why we're going hard after both when previously we didn't know there were two possible scholarships available.
Stay tuned for more on this tomorrow/later tonight...