[fpic]http://www.sectalk.com/teams/South_Carolina.gif[/fpic]Boyd suspended for nonacademic violation.


By: Joseph Person
www.thestate.com


USC tailback Cory Boyd has been suspended from the team because of an undisclosed violation of athletics department policy, a school official said Wednesday.

Athletics department spokesperson Michelle Schmitt said Boyd “right now is not a member of the football team.”

Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier did not elaborate on Boyd’s situation, except to say the move was not related to academics.

“He’s got some issues he’s working on,” Spurrier said.

Schmitt also released the following statement: “While Cory Boyd is a student in good standing with the University and currently enrolled in classes, he is not a part of the football team due to athletic department policy.”

Boyd’s future status is uncertain. Asked whether Boyd would be on the roster for the start of the 2005 season, Spurrier said: “Ask me about August 1 and I’ll let you know. That’s when players report (for preseason camp).”

Attempts to reach Boyd on Wednesday were unsuccessful. Lisa Merriweather, Boyd’s mother, said this week that Boyd was working out on his own and trying to boost his grades.

“He wasn’t told he can’t participate with the team, not to my knowledge,” Merriweather said Tuesday. “He is struggling with school and has to get his grades up. But he is eligible.”

Efforts to reach Merriweather for additional comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Spurrier said that Boyd, a rising junior who is enrolled in the first session of summer school, was not among the players on his list of being at risk academically.

“He’s still in school. He’s in summer school,” Spurrier said. “He is hanging in here.”

This is the second consecutive summer that Boyd has been barred from participating in team activities. He was one of seven players forced to work out on their own last July as a result of spotty attendance at offseason workouts and summer school.

Spurrier said Boyd has been working out with Duce Staley, the former USC tailback who is with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Losing Boyd would be a blow to the Gamecocks, who have lost two other running backs since March 1. Demetris Summers, USC’s leading rusher in 2004, was dismissed in March after a failed drug test. Fullback Antonio Lamar left school in May after becoming academically ineligible.

Boyd, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound native of Orange, N.J., is the Gamecocks’ top returning rusher (309 yards in ’04) and receiver (347 yards). Boyd missed 10 practices with a hamstring injury during spring practice and finished spring drills as the No. 2 tailback behind Daccus Turman.

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496 or jperson@thestate.com.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate...a/11962208.htm