McNeil no longer with Gophers basketball team

Two months after Daquein McNeil was arrested and charged with two felony counts of assault, the former sophomore guard is no longer enrolled at the University of Minnesota or a member of the basketball team, according to spokesman Dan Reisig.

He did not enroll for classes for the university's spring semester, and therefore was automatically dropped from the roster. Reisig said McNeil was not dismissed by the team.

"Daquein is not enrolled in classes at the university this semester, and as such is no longer a member of the men's basketball team," he said.

The team had suspended McNeil indefinitely following the arrest.

McNeil appeared in court earlier this month and has a pretrial hearing scheduled for March 24.

"We hope to resolve this then," defense lawyer F. Clayton Tyler said Thursday.

The 21-year-old Baltimore native, whom Gophers coach Richard Pitino first recruited while at Florida International, was arrested and charged with choking and whipping his 28-year-old girlfriend at the time on Nov. 24, the day Minnesota was supposed to fly to New York for the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament. The original complaint said McNeil attacked the woman in an apartment, repeatedly pouring alcohol and cold water on her, choking her and hitting her with a belt. He spent eight days — including Thanksgiving and his 21st birthday — in Hennepin County jail. The conditions of his release from jail including staying away from the woman.

Athletic director Norwood Teague said in a statement after charges were filed that McNeil "will remain suspended from all team-related activities" during the legal process. Teague declined to comment to the Star Tribune on Thursday.

Before the incident, McNeil was averaging 3.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 18.8 minutes per game and was a key cog in the Gophers' backcourt depth.