Senior running back Caleb King was a highly recruited in-state product who signed with Georgia in 2007. However, after three years in which he failed to tally more than 600 rushing yards a season, it would be a stretch to say his time in Athens wasn’t at least a little disappointing.
Now, it appears King won’t even get a chance to end his career on a high note.
According to a tweet from Bryan Fischer of CBS Sports citing university sources, King has been ruled academically ineligible for the 2011 season.
The University of Georgia has sent out a release confirming the departure and Seth Emerson of dawgextra tweets “UGA release: Caleb King is academically ineligible and will not be with the team this fall. King , a senior, will ‘consider options.’”
King also took to his own Twitter account to offer this cryptic message:
“Somethings u cant control, and what seems bad right now might turn out good. Too all of my homeboyz ... “
King had previously missed the 2010 Liberty Bowl due to academic reasons and faced a two-game suspension last season after being arrested for a failure-to-appear warrant following a no-show in court for a speeding ticket.
Now, with King out of the picture, let the speculation about incoming freshman Isaiah Crowell begin.
Crowell was considered by both Scout.com and Rivals.com to be one of the top running backs in the country for the 2011 signing class. And with the departure of fellow UGA back Washaun Ealey to Jacksonville State, Crowell will likely be the favorite to win the starting running back job as Georgia heads into preseason camp.
Then again, with the way we’ve been bashing incoming freshman phenoms, I suppose we should let the kid battle it out before we anoint him anything.
UPDATED 05:14 p.m. ET: We were finally able to get a hold of the statement that Georgia sent out on King’s eligibility. Apparently, we were at or near the bottom of the need-to-know list.
University of Georgia senior tailback Caleb King has been declared academically ineligible for the fall semester and will not be with the Bulldog football team this fall according to an announcement Friday by head coach Mark Richt.
“It’s unfortunate Caleb will not be with us this season,” said Richt. “We wish him the best in whatever he decides to do; however, we have to move forward and this will provide more opportunities for others to step up.”
King indicated he will consider the options available to him before making a decision on his future plans.
In his Georgia career, King played in 29 games including ten starts. He carried the ball 255 times for a total of 1,271 yards.