Sophomore cornerback/wide receiver T.J. Williams has been permanently removed from the MSU football team, head coach Mark Dantonio announced Monday.
When asked to elaborate as to why Williams is removed from the program, Dantonio declined to comment.
Williams, along with senior linebacker SirDarean Adams and reserve sophomore cornerback Jeremy Ware were charged with unarmed robbery on Oct. 24. Williams also was charged with one count of assault and battery.
The preliminary hearings for the three players are scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Jan. 14 in Mason’s 55th District Court.
Williams played in nine games this season, mostly filling the position of cornerback, totaling one reception for 16 yards and one interception.
So long, Showtime
Junior wide receiver Devin Thomas, dubbed “Showtime” by his teammates, met with the team Monday morning to get some closure on his decision to enter the NFL draft.
Dantonio said he had mixed feelings on the topic.
“I feel like a failure as a coach … I didn’t keep the team together in that respect,” Dantonio said. “On the other end, it feels like a success because he had a great year.
“He has that opportunity because of the year that he had, because of the exposure we gave him and the opportunities we gave him.”
With Thomas declaring for the NFL draft, Dantonio has to replace his most explosive gamebreaker, but he said he has high hopes.
“I would, I guess, tend to look at the glass half full, and see what playmakers we’re gaining,” he said, noting that he has especially focused on recruiting wide receivers.
Fred Smith, the star of the 2008 recruiting class, is one receiver that will vie for playing time, along with redshirt freshman wide receiver B.J. Cunningham.
Freshman wide receiver Mark Dell, who caught 20 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns, also will return for the 2008 season.
“I think we’ve got some outstanding young players,” Dantonio said.
Incoming Talent
Freshman Arthur Ray Jr. was the most highly-recruited offensive lineman in the class of 2007, but he sat the season out as he had a cancerous tumor surgically removed from his right leg.
He is now enrolled for the spring semester, and Dantonio said he could possibly play in the fall, filling a hole in the offensive line left by three graduating players.
“(Ray is) battling back, and he seems to be in very good health and good spirits,” Dantonio said.
Since the “Sackmaster” senior defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic ran out of eligibility after this season, the Spartans are looking for a playmaker up front.
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And Cincinnati transfer Trevor Anderson is someone who “needs to be taken notice of right now,” Dantonio said.
The 6-foot-2, 255-pound junior defensive end was granted release from Dantonio’s former team, the Bearcats, and will be on scholarship at MSU next semester.
He played under Dantonio for two years, starting eight games his freshman year and all games his sophomore year.
“He knows the defense, (and) knows how to operate in it,” Dantonio said.
Another incoming defensive end recruit, Tyler Hoover from Novi, will probably see playing time next year, Dantonio said. He’s an “outstanding defensive end … with tremendous upside,” he said.
