A day after he was arrested and charged with assaulting his girlfriend, University of Maine basketball player Clinton “Huggy” Dye has been dismissed from the team.

“It was an obvious decision, not only to myself, but to Huggy as well,” UMaine coach John Giannini said.

“It was clear that this was a very serious incident that required a very serious consequence,” Giannini said.

Two witnesses told Bangor police early Sunday morning that they saw Dye repeatedly strike his 33-year-old girlfriend and rip off some of her clothing. The witnesses then fled the couple’s Valley View apartment and called police.

According to police reports, the two witnesses were downstairs and heard their friend come tumbling down the stairs. The woman subsequently told police that Dye had pushed her down the stairs.

Dye, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior guard from Danville, Ill., ranked third on the team last season with an average of 13.3 points per game. He started in 24 of the 27 games in which he appeared and averaged 29.1 minutes per contest.

Dye was an All-America East second-team selection as a sophomore, when he averaged 14.7 ppg. He finishes his career as the 16th-leading scorer in school history with 1,076 points.

He played a year at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield before choosing UMaine and was a league All-Rookie selection during his freshman year.

Giannini said he doesn’t know what Dye’s future plans are, or if he plans to remain in school.

“For NCAA purposes, [his scholarship] counts for the year, but I don’t know what his academic situation is,” Giannini said.

Dye could not be reached for comment.

In August of 2000 Dye filed suit through his attorneys, Theodore S. Curtis and N. Laurence Willey Jr., seeking undisclosed damages from the university for injuries he said he incurred on the university campus.

Dye was injured on Sept. 2, 1998, when he stepped on a manhole cover on a pedestrian walkway. The manhole cover gave way and flipped over. In the suit – which was subsequently settled out of court – Dye claimed he received injuries that “eliminated” future opportunities to play professional basketball.

Giannini said he spoke briefly with Dye on Monday, and that his former player understood the reasons for his dismissal.

“He feels very bad for a lot of reasons, and he knows the seriousness of the situation,” Giannini said.

In addition to the lawsuit, Dye’s time at Maine was marred by a up-and-down junior season during which Dye alternately played very well or proved to be a distraction to the team.

“[It’s been a] soap opera,” Giannini said. “Right now I think it’s inappropriate for me to sit here and talk about the good things that Huggy’s done. He has done some good things. But he’s been his own worst enemy.”