Gophers dismiss wide receiver Donovahn Jones for violation of team rules

ORLANDO – The Gophers have dismissed sophomore wide receiver Donovahn Jones from the team for an unspecified violation of team rules, a team source confirmed Sunday.

Jones' high school coach said Jones had grown frustrated that he didn't have a bigger role on the team and called the parting mutual. But a team source indicated that Jones was in fact dismissed.

Jones was with the Gophers in Orlando on Thursday, getting ready for the Citrus Bowl, but was on a plane home to Georgia by Friday morning, according to the team source. Gophers coach Jerry Kill won't be available to address the issue until Monday.

"Donovahn's a good kid, and coach Kill and [wide receivers coach Brian] Anderson are good people,'" said Terry Herrod, Jones' former coach at Dutchtown (Ga.) High School. "This was a mutual deal. … It's really just a young kid who's frustrated about his role on the team and that's really the bottom line."

Jones could not be reached for comment. His absence will leave the Gophers thinner at receiver against Missouri. Drew Wolitarsky will be back from his high-ankle sprain, and they'll have Isaac Fruechte and KJ Maye, but no other wide receiver on the team has more than one reception.

Herrod said the Gophers will give Jones his release on Jan. 3, which will free him to play anywhere outside the Big Ten or for a team that will appear on Minnesota's schedule the next three years. Jones will need to sit out a year if he transfers to an FBS school, but he'll still have two years of eligibility remaining.

"Coach Kill and Coach Anderson have been very honest and very supportive of Donovahn," Herrod said. "And Donovahn's very appreciative of Minnesota and the opportunity they gave him to play. But he's just looking forward to moving forward and getting back in school at somewhere where he's going to probably be in an offensive system that's more tailored to his skill-set."

He did not play against Ohio State on Nov. 15 after getting sick, but Kill also said he had planned to sit Jones for two series that game because of a minor disciplinary issue. Jones missed a class but was otherwise in good academic standing.

"We have high standards," Kill said that day. "I run my program that way, and I might get fired for doing it, but that's the way I am. We held [Jones] out for two series, and then he came in this morning and he was sick.

"Then the trainer said they didn't feel like he could go, so we didn't play him the rest of the game. Two-fold deal there, but that's the way we do things."

Jones played in the final two regular season games, but did not have a catch against either Nebraska or Wisconsin.

Jones had offers from 28 FBS schools coming out of high school, but he wanted to play quarterback, and most of those schools wanted him to play receiver. He made a verbal commitment to Missouri – Minnesota's opponent in the Citrus Bowl – but flipped to Minnesota on signing day.

I'm here [at receiver], and I'm settled," he said in October 2014. "That's where I'd like to stay."