Illini guard Smith to sit out season
Jamar Smith has served time in jail.
Spent time in substance-abuse counseling. Performed community service.
Now Illinois' junior shooting guard must spent a season as a cheerleader as another consequence of his February car accident that earned him a drunken-driving conviction and endangered the life of teammate Brian Carlwell.
In a low-key statement, Illini coach Bruce Weber announced Wednesday that Smith will sit out the upcoming season.
"Jamar Smith has had a productive summer," Weber said. "He's in the process of meeting his legal obligations while continuing to work on his personal issues.
"We feel at this time it's in Jamar's best interest that he sit out the 2007-08 season and take a red-shirt year. We'll continue to monitor his progress. If all obligations are met, then he'll return to competition for the 2008-09 season."
Just as it decided to allow Smith to continue attending Illinois, the university's administration apparently decided the slender Peoria product's on-court fate.
Smith will continue to practice with the team like any other redshirt, but he won't play on Illinois' upcoming five-games-in-four-days Canadian tour.
The Illini started practicing Wednesday for the tour that starts Aug. 31 in Ottawa and ends Sept. 3 in Montreal. Anyone who plays on that tour cannot redshirt during the season, unless a medical situation arises.
Smith's situation leaves Illinois perilously thin at shooting guard. It's a condition that could become worse if freshman Quinton Watkins can't earn his eligibility.
According to Weber, Watkins has returned to his home in California to build his case for passing through the NCAA's Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse.
"We continue to wait on documentation regarding Quinton Watkins' eligibility for the upcoming season," Weber said in the statement. "We hope this situation is resolved soon."
If Illinois doesn't have Watkins, then its roster won't have any shooting guards brought in on scholarship.
Junior Chester Frazier and freshman Demetri McCamey are slated to play the point, which means junior walk-on Trent Meacham (5.0 ppg, 35 3-pointers) and junior small forward Calvin Brock (5.0 ppg, nine 3-pointers) are the leading options on the wing.
That's similar to the early going last season, when Meacham and Brock filled in while Rich McBride served his DUI suspension and Smith sat out to heal a sprained ankle.
Smith eventually returned and averaged 8.1 points in 21 games, but his season ended abruptly after the one-car accident that occurred in stormy conditions on the night of Feb. 12.
Smith drove his 10-year-old Lexus into a tree as he and Carlwell headed toward campus on South First Street. While Carlwell eventually was taken to the hospital in critical condition with a severe concussion, Smith was found to have a blood-alcohol level of .176.
The combination of those events led to his felony conviction on aggravated driving under the influence.
Smith spent two weeks in Champaign County Jail as part of his plea agreement. Upon his conviction, he offered this statement:
"I take full responsibility for what occurred on the night of February 12, and I am deeply remorseful for everything that happened. I sincerely apologize for my actions, and for the negative light that I have brought to my family, friends, the University and the basketball program.
"What I did not only put myself in harm's way, but I also put a teammate and anyone else that was on the road that night in danger.
"I have thought long and hard about the poor choices I made that night. I can't go back in time and make it go away, but I can do something about it from this point on, and that is why I will do everything in my power to make sure that nothing like this happens again.
"Since the accident I have become a better person, friend and teammate. My goals are to obtain my college degree, speak to teens and schools all over Champaign-Urbana and Peoria about my experience so they can learn from my mistake, and be an advocate for student-athletes against drunk driving."