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Chad Frazier will leave UAB following domestic violence charge

Chad Frazier will leave UAB following domestic violence charge

Conference USA's reigning newcomer of the year will not have the chance to follow up his brilliant debut campaign with an encore.

Chad Frazier, UAB's leading scorer this past season, has been granted his release by the school and will not return, his brother told TheRecruitScoop.com. The point guard's departure comes less than two months after Birmingham police arrested him and charged him with third-degree domestic violence stemming from an incident in April.

Police spokesman Sean Edwards told the Birmingham News last month that the altercation between Frazier and the victim escalated when Frazier lost his temper and threw a laptop into the room where the victim was standing. When the victim tried to calm him down, Frazier allegedly pushed her into a bookshelf in the bedroom and later tried to pin her to the ground, leading her to kick and bite him in self defense.

At the time of Frazier's arrest, UAB coach Jerod Haase released a statement saying, "Once the process is complete and all the details are available, we will handle the outcome appropriately." Perhaps some of the ugly allegations that led to Frazier's arrest persuaded Haase he could not justify keeping Frazier on the team.

Not having Frazier will be a big blow to UAB's chances of competing with potential Conference USA contenders Louisiana Tech and UTEP next season. Frazier and 6-foot-8 senior forward C.J. Washington led the Blazers to an 18-win season last year, but now Washington will be the lone double-digit scorer returning for a program that also lost productive forward Rod Rucker to graduation.

Frazier, a former junior college standout, chose UAB over scholarship offers from a handful of high-major programs. He averaged 17.7 points and 4.3 assists per game last season, but his four turnovers per game were a drawback.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!