Jalek Felton withdrawing from North Carolina after school ‘broke his heart’

Jalek Felton’s time at North Carolina is over.

The former Gray Collegiate standout withdrew from UNC, according to his attorney Kerry Sutton.

“Playing at @UNC_Basketball was a life-long dream come true. It’s time for a new dream,” Felton said in the statement on Twitter.

Felton officially withdrew Thursday so he can talk to other NCAA schools but Sutton said the decision was made when he was suspended last month.

Sutton said she will continue to fight because the case is not over.

“He lost his trust in UNC and they broke his heart,” Sutton said in a phone interview with The State. “We talked through a lot of what the claims are and this (punishment) didn’t justify it.

“He had faith in UNC's future when no other five-star recruit did. UNC has turned its back on him. I spoke with Roy Williams today and he obviously feels the pain of Jalek's crushed dream to play at UNC. Jalek will land on his feet, but our battle here is far from over.”

Sutton said UNC has given Felton his release and he is free to talk with schools. If Felton were to go to an ACC school, he would have to sit out two years but one year at any other school, per NCAA rules.

Some have speculated that he might end up back at South Carolina to play for the Gamecocks. Felton maintained a good relationship with Frank Martin during the recruiting process.

On Jan. 30, North Carolina announced it suspended the former SC Gatorade Player of the Year, and he wasn’t able to participate in any university activities. Because of federal privacy laws, that is the extent to which UNC said it could comment.

“I had nothing to do with how it was handled,” Williams said after the Tar Heels game at Clemson on Jan. 30. “That’s probably all I should say because I’ve been advised not to say anything and don’t know enough to say anything.”

Since his suspension, Felton has attended a few of Gray Collegiate’s playoff games and coach Dion Bethea said he might be at the War Eagles’ state title game Friday night against Carvers Bay.

Felton played in 22 games this season for UNC and averaged 2.9 points and 1.6 assists per game.

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 3:35 PM with the headline "Jalek Felton withdrawing from North Carolina after school ‘broke his heart’."