Following his season-long suspension from the Vanderbilt basketball team earlier in the week, sophomore point guard Eric McClellan, also the team's leading scorer, was removed from the program on Friday, ESPN reported.

Mclellan, averaging 14.3 points per game this year, was suspended and eventually kicked off the team for "academic violations," presumably cheating.

According to his statement on Wednesday, he hopes to return to school in the summer and rejoin the team next season.

"I take full responsibility for what has happened," McClellan said. "I look forward to returning to school this summer and of continuing my goal of earning a degree at Vanderbilt and playing basketball for this coaching staff and with these players."

The school's statement below, released on Friday and based on new information from Wednesday night, contradicts that notion. Mclellan will likely never play for Vanderbilt again.

"Eric McClellan was dismissed from the Vanderbilt basketball team today by Coach Kevin Stallings," the school announced in a press release. "McClellan will not be a part of the program in the future, based upon newly discovered information that came to light Wednesday evening."

McClellan, who sat out last season after transferring from Tulsa, joins a list of previously suspended, currently suspended, or dismissed college basketball players this season. One thing all the troubled guards seem to have in common: high scoring averages and low field goal percentages. Even though college guards tend to shoot worse than professionals (I don't have the statistics on hand to support this statement, but I'm pretty confident in it), it's interesting to note that McClellan, North Carolina's P.J. Hairston (removed from the team), Florida's Scottie Wilbekin (suspended but re-instated), and even Florida forward Dorian Finney-Smith (also re-instated) are all shooting 43 percent or worse this season. Wilbekin, who actually shot a respectable 45 percent last year, is under 40 percent this year, as is Finney-Smith. Mclellan was at 43 percent this year, while Hairston shot 43 percent last season.

Louisville's 6-foot-6 forward Chane Bohanan was dismissed earlier this year during a season in which he was shooting over 63 percent.