Ricky Green leaves UM men’s squad Bears lose second player in preseason

The University of Maine suffered its second major personnel loss in a month on Wednesday when junior Ricky Green decided to leave school.

Green, a junior college transfer from Shawnee (Ill.) Junior College, left the team “citing personal reasons,” a release by the University said on Wednesday.

Maine coach John Giannini chose not to comment further on the specifics of Green’s decision, saying he would let the three-sentence news release “speak for itself.”

The release merely stated that Green has left the team citing personal reasons.

Green did not appear in either of the Black Bears’ exhibition contests – against Carleton University and GT Express – after being suspended for those games for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

He was expected to return to the lineup in the Black Bears’ opener against Arkansas on Monday in the first round of the Preseason NIT.

The Black Bears also lost the services of star guard Huggy Dye after he was arrested on Oct. 7 and charged with assault in connection with an incident involving his girlfriend.

Dye, who had starred for the Bears for three years, was immediately dismissed from the team and on Monday he entered a guilty plea in the case and was sentenced to 30 days in Penobscot County Jail, with all but two days suspended, and was placed on probation for one year.

Green and Dye mark the first two players to leave UMaine unexpectedly – and during the school year – in John Giannini’s five years at Maine.

But the Black Bears were bitten by the transfer after one year of standout freshman Tory Cavalieri at the end of last season, and Giannini admits that the absence of Green from the lineup will sting.

“We are obviously much less deep at the guard position than we thought we were,” Giannini said. “We can still rotate Errick [Greene], Derrick [Jackson] and Freddy Petkus at those positions, and I think we can also do some creative subbing to get our starters extra minutes of rest.”

Giannini said that despite the loss of a player who averaged 22 points per game in junior college last year, he is still optimistic about the Black Bears chances this season.

He said the biggest blow would be to the Black Bears’ offense, which Green was expected to bolster immediately. But in an America East conference that no longer has established powers Delaware, Hofstra and Drexel, the Bears should be able to compete.

“I’m hoping that in the long run it may be a wash in terms of what we gain in defense and schedule and what we lose in offense [with the loss of Dye, Cavalieri and Green],” Giannini said.