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Damontre Harris will re-enroll at Florida, but won’t play this season

Billie Donovan

Florida coach Billie Donovan tries to get this team’s attention during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Florida State, Friday, Nov. 29, 2013, in Gainesville, Fla. Florida defeated Florida State 67-66. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)

AP

It was just three weeks ago that Billy Donovan announced that center Damontre Harris was no longer a member of the Florida basketball team.

The South Carolina transfer had been suspended earlier this season and it wasn’t surprising to see him eventually get the boot from Donovan.

What was surprising, however, was when Donovan announced on Wednesday night that Harris will re-enroll at Florida for the spring semester to try and work his way back onto the team. What does he have to do to make that happen? Well, Donovan wasn’t so clear. The immediate reaction from the cynic in me was that this was a clear response to Donovan’s concerns about Chris Walker’s pending NCAA eligibility, but that doesn’t appear to be the case either. Donovan also told reporters that Harris would not be playing in any games this season.

If he’s going to make a return to the court, it will be in November.

“We traded some texts over the Christmas break and he realized that he had made a big mistake,” Donovan told Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun. “He wants to work his way back on the team. It’s going to be similar to Scottie Wilbekin’s situation in that he has to meet some terms and conditions. Can he make it? I don’t know, but if he does it will be a great comeback story.”

Harris was arrested last February during his redshirt season. If he doesn’t play this year, that means that he will have spent two years as a Gator without sniffing the O-Dome court for as much as a second.

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