DePaul announced Monday that DePaul senior forward Cleveland Melvin is no longer enrolled at DePaul after being suspended indefinitely.
Melvin was suspended indefinitely on Jan. 25 for violating an unspecified team rule, right before DePaul’s game against Seton Hall. Melvin had missed the following games and large question marks surrounded on when he was going to return.
The statement puts an end to the senior’s career. He was ranked near the top of DePaul’s all-time scoring leaders and earned the Big East Rookie of the Year award in 2011.
“I want to thank everyone at DePaul and the basketball program who helped me the last four years,” Melvin tweeted. “I wish nothing but the best for my teammates and the coaching staff the rest of this season and in the future.”
Head coach Oliver Purnell appeared on his weekly radio show on 670 the Score with Laurence Holmes Monday, but offered very little about Melvin’s departure from the team.
“I can’t comment on that because of student privacy acts and that kind of thing,” Purnell said. “Cleve’ won’t be with us and that’s just the way it is. We’ve just got to move forward.”
Purnell said the team reacted fine when told Melvin would no longer be a part of the team.
“We went out and practiced and that was that,” Purnell said. “I can’t tell you how they reacted in their private moments, but they reacted and went out and had a good practice. That’s the most important thing in terms of team.”
How players reacted in their private moments will remain a mystery, but guard Brandon Young was visibly shaken when discussing Melvin, following Wednesday’s loss to Villanova. Young was a part of the same recruiting class that brought the pair from Baltimore in 2010.
“It’s sad,” Young said. “That’s a brother I came in here with my freshman year, but since he’s gone someone else has got to step up.”
Young, who had said before the Providence game that he would reach out to Melvin, paused when asked if he had talked to him since his departure.
“We’ve just got to come out and fight for 40 minutes and worry about our opponent,” Young said in a monotone voice. “We’ll worry about that later.”
Melvin was averaging 16.7 points per game and 6.4 rebounds this season. He finished sixth in career scoring in points and appeared in 110 games.
(Editor’s note: More details to come.)