University of Utah forward Daniel Deane, a former Deseret Morning News Mr. Basketball who was highly recruited by some of the top basketball programs in the country, has been released from his scholarship by head coach Jim Boylen for academic reasons.
Deane, a 6-foot-8, 245-pound forward, prepped at Judge Memorial High, where he was a three-year all-state player and led his team to the state 3A title in 2004-05. As a freshman for Utah, Deane played in 29 games and made four starts, averaging 3.9 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12.9 minutes per game.
"From day one, I made the players in this program aware of what was going to be expected of them both on and off the court," said Boylen. "We want our student-athletes to conduct themselves in a way that reflects positively not only on the men's basketball program but the University of Utah, as well. We do all we can to help our student-athletes succeed academically, and we feel that it is our job to hold them accountable for earning a college degree. Daniel did not buy into that philosophy."
Deane was an honor student at Judge, where he graduated with a 3.75 GPA. However, the first sign of academic troubles came in January, when he was suspended for the UNLV game for academic reasons. At the time, then-coach Ray Giacoletti said he couldn't go into details because of privacy laws, but he did say, "He has an academic situation and is trying to get it resolved."
The problem was resolved enough that Deane was eligible to play the rest of the season.
When Boylen took over as coach, he was heard on a TV tape during practice specifically talking to Deane about academics.
"Daniel was given an opportunity over the past six weeks to elevate his conduct to the standards we put forth. He chose to not do that, and we were left with no choice but to release him," Boylen continued. "We're trying to establish a standard of excellence that we feel is necessary to build a major college men's basketball program."
Deane, the son of former Ute star Greg Deane, chose Utah over Kansas, Gonzaga and Stanford, after also being recruited by the likes of North Carolina, Kentucky and Wake Forest. He couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday night.
University of Utah athletic director Chris Hill was supportive of Boylen's decision.
"When we hired Jim, he was very forthright about the way he is going to run his program," Hill said. "I support his philosophy of doing things the right way, and stand by his decision."
With Deane's departure on the heels of last week's announcement that 6-8 forward Nemanja Calasan was being released from his letter of intent, the Utes could be short-handed in the middle next year. Both Deane and Calasan could have played the 5 spot behind Luke Nevill, in addition to the big forward position.
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