Turner gets the boot from MSU

By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
Feb. 19, 2004
STARKVILLE Mississippi State University head football coach Sylvester Croom dismissed running back Nick Turner from the team on Wednesday.
The first-year Bulldog coach told The Jackson Clarion-Ledger he made the decision to let Turner go last week because the sophomore back failed to meet "expectation levels" the coach has for his players.
Turner and Croom were to meet on Monday to discuss the back's situation, but Croom told the Clarion-Ledger that Turner did not show up for the meeting.
Turner has run into problems before, since coming to MSU in 2002.
After playing in the first four games of the 2002 season, the former Parade All-American from Atlanta sat the remainder of the season after being charged in October for passing out counterfeit $100 bills in October at a Starkville nightclub.
Former MSU coach Jackie Sherrill reinstated Turner to the Bulldogs program last February, after the running back received a suspended sentence and three years probation.
Turner was second in the league in kickoff returns (23.5), fourth in punt returns (11.1) and seventh in rushing (696 yards, 58.0 average) as the Bulldogs finished 2-10 overall and 1-7 in their final season under Sherrill in 2003.
He also set a new single-season school record for all-purpose yards in a game against Arkansas on Nov. 22.
Turner led MSU and ranked second in the Southeastern Conference in all-purpose yardage with 138.7 per game during his just-completed sophomore season.
Croom said he intends to honor Turner's scholarship through the remainder of the spring semester.