Not surprisingly, that didn’t take much time at all.
Thanks in large part to social media posts made by fans in attendance at Saturday’s Tennessee-Georgia game in Athens, reports surfaced Monday in which it was alleged that UGA baseball player Adam Sasser had directed racially offensive comments at a member of the Bulldogs football team. Specifically, it was alleged that the first baseman said, in reference to quarterback Justin Fields, “Put the n****r in!”
In a statement, the university said it was aware of the reported incident and was investigating the situation. Two days later, in a very brief and terse statement attributed to athletic director Greg McGarity and head baseball coach Scott Stricklin, UGA announced that Sasser has been dismissed from the Bulldogs baseball team.
Sasser was named second-team All-SEC this past season. He was going to be heading into his senior season prior to the dismissal.
While Fields has not discussed the situation publicly, Kirby Smart addressed it Tuesday.
“If what I’ve read and heard is true, it’s really unacceptable behavior that’s not who we are at Georgia,” the head coach said by way of 247Sports.com. “Trying to build a program on tolerance and mutual respect and you can’t control what other people say but the expectation is that people that are a part of our program, attending our games, share the same beliefs that we do.
“I’m sad that something like this would happen and disappointed but it doesn’t affect our family here and our unit here. Our kids have been great. It’s not something I’ve had to address with them. I’ve addressed it with Justin, that’s the most important thing.”
After the dismissal was announced, Sasser took to social media to, one, apologize for his words and, two, let people know that he and Fields are “on good terms.” Whatever that means.