Georgia releases D’Antne Demery from LOI after domestic violence arrest
By John Buhler
G-Day wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Georgia Bulldogs, as 2017 signee D’Antne Demery had his letter of intent revoked after his arrest on Saturday night.
The Georgia Bulldogs may have concluded their 2017 spring practices with their annual G-Day game at Sanford Stadium on Saturday. However, it was not the best ending for the Bulldogs football program on Saturday night, as one of their 2017 signees was arrested in downtown Athens.
Four-star offensive linemen D’Antne Demery from Brunswick, Georgia was arrested for allegedly choking his girlfriend, and the mother of his child, downtown in front of a popular Athens bar, Boars Head. Demery later had his 2017 letter of intent revoked by the football program on Sunday.
Georgia has had a zero tolerance policy in place when it comes to domestic violence since the beginning of the Mark Richt era. Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart has followed Richt’s footsteps in that regard with this personal conduct issue.
It’s a shame this unfortunate incident had to go down. Georgia made the right call in revoking Demery’s scholarship, but the Bulldogs will absolutely have their issues on the offensive line heading into 2017.
The Bulldogs may have an elite offensive line coach in Sam Pittman in charge of rebuilding that front-five, but he is largely bereft of seasoned offensive line talent. Pittman has to replace both starting tackles in Tyler Catalina and Greg Pyke. Center Brandon Kublanow has also graduated.
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The only two returning starters up front are Isaiah Wynn and Lamont Gaillard. Wynn has two years of starting experience. He will play either left tackle or left guard in his senior season. Gaillard started at right guard last fall after Pyke had to kick out to tackle to replace Kolton Houston. This year, Gaillard looks to become the next great Georgia center, following in the footsteps of Ben Jones, David Andrews and Kublanow.