The North Carolina Tar Heels suspended freshman guard Jalek Felton, nephew of a North Carolina legend.
Jalek Felton’s time at North Carolina may be coming to a surreptitious ending already.
The Tar Heels suspended their freshman guard on Tuesday, not just from the basketball, but from all university activities. Details of what led to the suspension remain unclear, with the university stating that they will not comment further.
Felton does have an attorney, though, suggesting an incident of a legal nature.
Felton is the nephew of Tar Heels legend Raymond Felton, whose jersey hangs in the Dean Dome. The point guard led North Carolina to a title before moving on to a lengthy and ongoing NBA career.
Coming into the season, high hopes abounded for the younger Felton. 247 Sports named him a four-star recruit, the No. 30 prospect in the Class of 2017. He was expected to be one of Joel Berry II’s most prominent backups.
In just under ten minutes per game, however, Felton has largely struggled. He’s averaging just 2.9 points and 1.6 assists per game, seeing his playing time dwindle further during ACC play.
He hasn’t scored more than two points in a game since a 12-point barrage on December 23 against Ohio State.
For the Tar Heels, the loss could be most felt from a depth perspective. Felton was the team’s only backup point guard on scholarship. Seventh Woods is still missing from action due to a foot injury.
Berry II is now averaging 31.7 minutes per game, the most in his career. That number can only be expected to rise as the team figures out how to proceed at the point guard position.
Next: 3 reasons Virginia is the best team in the country
Following Tuesday night’s game against Clemson, the Tar Heels have a few days off before a game with Pitt, following the first Tobacco Road rivalry game of the season.