Brown, Georgia's top scorer, kicked off team by Felton

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ATHENS, Ga. -- Senior Takais Brown, Georgia's leading scorer last season who already was suspended for the first nine games this season, was dismissed from the team Friday.

Coach Dennis Felton said Brown was kicked off the team for a violation of team policies but can remain at Georgia as a student.

"I'm both disappointed and sad today to release Takais from the team," Felton said in a statement released by the school. "He can continue as a student here at Georgia and will remain on scholarship. It is my hope that Takais continues his work toward earning his degree, which is certainly within his reach this summer."

Brown, a forward from Flint, Mich., led Georgia with 14.2 points per game last season.

He and two other Georgia players were suspended earlier this month for violations of the school's new class attendance policy for student-athletes.

The violation of team policy that led to Friday's dismissal of Brown apparently was different than the problems that led to the Oct. 11 suspensions of Brown, Mike Mercer for 15 games and Albert Jackson for six games.

When announcing those suspensions, Felton said the three had violated Georgia athletic association policy, not team policy.

The suspensions were the result of policy introduced by athletic director Damon Evans in his efforts to boost the graduation rate of Georgia's student-athletes. According to the policy enacted last January, student-athletes are fined $10 and suspended for unexcused absences from class and academic appointments.

Felton said the players he suspended earlier this month remain academically eligible by university, Southeastern Conference and NCAA standards. While Felton freely discussed the earlier suspensions, he provided no detail on the team policy broken by Brown, according to team spokesman Tim Hix.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

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