Philip Jurick informed Mocs basketball coach John Shulman on Wednesday that he will not continue his career at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
“There is some stuff going on right now that affected the situation and I wasn’t really committed I guess, so I didn’t want to get myself involved in UTC,” Jurick said. “It wasn’t a quick decision. I didn’t think it would be my best route to go at this time.”
Jurick – a 6-foot-11 center who previously played at East Ridge High, signed and redshirted at Tennessee and spent last season at Chattanooga State – fell two classes short of graduating from the junior college.
However, he had an opportunity to enroll at UTC on scholarship, practice with the team this year and still have two years of eligibility remaining at the start of the 2011-12 season.
“I’m disappointed Philip is not going to be with us,” Shulman said. “I thought we could make an impact on him. We’ve got great depth at the 5, and he would have added to that. I’m not worried about our team, so much as I’m worried about Philip because I want the best for him.”
See Thursday’s Times Free Press for more coverage. You can follow David Uchiyama on Twitter at twitter.com/UchSports