A career that never really got off the ground ended Wednesday when the North Carolina men's basketball team announced that Damion Grant's tenure as a Tar Heel has reached its end.
Grant, a senior, finally succumbed to the injuries that have plagued him his entire UNC career. A right ankle injury he suffered this summer was the final straw.
"Damion gave it a shot, but it was clear to him after three days of practice and two games that playing this season would be a real struggle," said men's basketball head trainer Marc Davis in a press release issued Wednesday.
The 6-foot-11, 260-pound center played with the team on its recent trip to the Bahamas, where he scored three points in two games. But after returning stateside, the injury was too much to handle.
"I'm disappointed by the situation," Grant said in the release. "I would've liked the opportunity to help my team this year, but it wasn't meant to be. I'll focus on graduating in May and try to get into law school."
The Kingston, Jamaica, native came to UNC by way of Brewster (N.H.) Academy and played in 19 games as a freshman in 2002-03, scoring 30 total points and pulling down 28 total rebounds all while being hampered by knee problems.
In the next two seasons, Grant got on the floor in only nine games and didn't score, as thumb, knee and foot problems derailed his career.
And last April, he watched the National Championship game from behind the bench in street clothes.
"He never really got a chance to show me what he could do because he was never close to 100-percent healthy in the last two years," said Coach Roy Williams in the release.
