When the practice jerseys come down over the laced-up shoulder pads March 24, one thing is certain.
The No. 7 jersey will be empty, or at least unoccupied by junior-to-be tailback Nick Turner.
First year head coach Sylvester Croom announced Turner’s dismissal from the team in a statement released Wednesday.
“I have dismissed Nick Turner from the Mississippi State University football team, effective immediately,” Croom said.
After an October 2002 charge for passing five $100 bills at Remington’s Hunt Club, then-head coach Jackie Sherrill demoted Turner to the practice squad and allowed him to rejoin the team the following season.
Turner responded by setting two school records in 2003, his sophomore campaign.
Turner racked up 344 all-purpose yards in a 59-21 loss at Tennessee to claim the school’s best tally in a single game.
Turner went on to set the highest mark in a season for all-purpose yards with 1,664.
That tally placed Turner second in the Southeastern Conference and 21st nationally.
In the released statement Croom also said, “It is my intention for Nick to remain on scholarship through the end of this spring semester to remain in good standing with the university. But Nick has not met the expectation level we have for a Mississippi State football-playing student-athlete.”
Croom told The Clarion-Ledger that Turner had not been satisfying expectations in the classroom or in offseason workouts.
In addition to attending class, players are expected to go to study halls and tutoring sessions.
Croom also told The Ledger that he had talked to Turner’s family, but had not talked to the tailback lately.
According to The Ledger article, Turner did not show up for a Monday meeting with Croom.
The rookie head coach concluded his Wednesday statement, “I wish him the best in the future, and I will assist him in any way I can.”