Roy Williams: ‘I Was Not Involved’ With Jalek Felton Suspension

There are more questions than answers swirling in the first 24 hours since it was announced that UNC had suspended freshman guard Jalek Felton.

Felton was suspended by the university, not the basketball program, and did not travel with the team to Clemson Tuesday night where the Tar Heels lost their third-straight game.

“I had nothing to do with how it was handled,” UNC head coach Roy Williams said after Tuesday night’s game regarding Felton’s suspension.

“And that’s probably all I should say,” Williams said, “because I’ve been advised not to say anything and don’t know enough to say anything.”

Williams added that the team “didn’t know everything” about the situation until the end of practice on Monday.

The university announced the suspension at 11 a.m. Tuesday saying that Felton had been suspended from the university. No further details were available due to privacy laws, university officials said.

“I didn’t have any opinion. I didn’t have any say,” Williams said Tuesday night. “I was not involved.”

Durham-based attorney Kerry Sutton confirmed Tuesday afternoon that she is representing Felton but would not elaborate on any circumstances of the situation.

Sutton represented UNC linebacker Allen Artis when he was accused of sexual assault by another student on the UNC campus. Artis was eventually cleared by the university and misdemeanor charges were dropped. Sutton was quick to caution against assuming the nature of Felton’s case by looking at her past work.

Sutton tweeted Tuesday that Felton “is an extraordinary young man & an exemplary student athlete” at UNC. She added, “We’ll get him back in class & on the court where he belongs as soon as we can.”

Sutton told WCHL that the process is currently in the “gathering information” phase. There is no public information from any local law enforcement agency nor the North Carolina court system, as of this posting, linking Felton to any criminal charges.

Felton, the nephew of former Tar Heel Raymond Felton, was a highly touted recruit coming out of South Carolina and was serving as a backup to senior Joel Berry. Felton’s suspension coupled with the injury that has left sophomore Seventh Woods sidelined in recent weeks leave UNC with few options at point guard.

There is no timeline as to how long Felton’s suspension may be.