Notre Dame loses leading scorer

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By Matt Fortuna | ESPN.com

Notre Dame will be without leading scorer Jerian Grant for the rest of the season because of an 'academic matter,' the guard wrote in a note Sunday night on the team's website.

In a 400-plus-word letter, Grant, who averages 19 points per game for the 8-4 Fighting Irish, said that he is no longer enrolled in school 'due to an academic manner that [he] did not handle properly' and that, as a result, he is no longer a member of the basketball program.

He said that he intends to return to Notre Dame as soon as possible following the spring 2014 semester and will be patient with the process that he will eventually have to go through before being readmitted to the school.

The redshirt junior and son of former NBA player Harvey Grant had been on track to graduate this coming May with a degree in sociology.

Grant added that he takes responsibility for his 'lack of good judgment and the poor decision,' saying that he has no one to blame but himself.

Notre Dame students took their final exams this past week.

The situation appears to be similar to the one that the Notre Dame football program dealt with this past spring, when starting quarterback Everett Golson was also suspended from school for what he said were academic reasons, which also happened to surface right after final exam week.

Golson was just readmitted to Notre Dame on Dec. 13 after spending much of the fall season away from his Irish teammates and training in San Diego with quarterback trainer George Whitfield Jr. It is unclear how Grant will spend his time off.

Grant's fifth year at school next season would have been optional, with chances appearing strong that he would have left early for a shot at a professional-playing future after earning his degree. Now it appears that the 6-foot-5, 203-pounder will not have much of a decision to make at that time if he is still set on earning his degree from Notre Dame in the timeliest manner possible.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey is set to address the situation at 11 a.m. ET Monday on a teleconference.