Damontre Harris has officially been added to the Florida roster after transferring and South Carolina coach Frank Martin let him leave for an SEC rival.
The 6-foot-9 forward must sit out the 2012-13 season due to NCAA transfer regulations.
“If that young man does not want to be at this school, then you shouldn’t hold him hostage,’’ Martin told TampaBay.com on Wednesday.
“Now we’ve got to compete against Damontre and I don’t like that. But why should I block him from going to the school he wants to play at, as long as things were handled the right way? I don’t believe in this whole thing that you should be able to recruit guys (at other schools) that’s crazy. But as long as things are handled the proper way, as long as we all handle things like adults and educators and those kids and those families are up front and communicate with all the appropriate people, it’s no different than me getting out of my contract, if I handle things the right way.’’
Martin added: “Our challenge, our duty, is to elevate our program to the levels where Kentucky and Florida have been. I know if we can compete with those two schools, we can compete with anybody in the country.”
During his two seasons in Columbia, Harris averaged 5.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. He started 30 of 31 games for the Gamecocks and ranked second in the SEC with 71 blocks.
Photo: Herald Tribune
