Miami Hurricane Avantae Williams dismissed from team after felony battery arrest
Avantae Williams is no longer a Miami Hurricane.
On the same day University of Miami coach Manny Diaz and his three star players were repping the new and improved Hurricanes at the Atlantic Coast Conference Football Kickoff, one of their top young safeties was arrested and jailed.
The Hurricanes announced Thursday evening that Williams “has been dismissed from the football program.’’
UM released a statement earlier Thursday that the second-year freshman Williams, 20, who didn’t play last season because of a medical issue, was arrested by the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Court records show he was charged Wednesday with three counts of aggravated battery on a pregnant victim. He was booked into a Miami-Dade jail late Wednesday, and remained there until posting bond Thursday afternoon.
According to a police report obtained by the Herald, Williams’ arrest stemmed from an argument with his child’s mother, who is also 31 weeks pregnant with his baby. The two had been living together in West Kendall, although they are “ex-girlfriend / boyfriend,” the report said.
The two got into an argument Wednesday over Williams “being involved with another woman,” the report said. “When I return from practice you need to be gone,” he allegedly told the woman.
But when he returned in the afternoon, she was still packing her belongings. According to police, Williams grabbed her by the hair and throw her onto the bed. “Get the f--k out,” he yelled, the report said.
He also grabbed her by the hair and threw her outside the home, causing her to hit her head on the ground, police said. She got a neighbor to call 911. Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue paramedics took her to West Kendall Hospital, and noted “multiple bruises to her arms,” a minor bruise on her neck and two broken finger nails.
Williams did not speak to police, as he was represented by a lawyer, the report said.
On Thursday, a Miami-Dade judge ordered Williams to “stay-away” from the woman, who had told prosecutors she did not want such an order.
“He was immediately suspended from all team activities,’’ UM assistant athletic director for communications Camron Ghorbi said in the statement.
Williams was rated the Class of 2020’s No. 1 overall safety by Rivals.com.
Williams, who was listed as 6-0 and 198 pounds on the roster, is from DeLand. He was a true freshman for Miami this past season but had to sit out because of unspecified medical issues that were flagged during a 2020 preseason exam.
Williams competed in spring practice and posted the following on his Instagram account last March before spring began: “Got cleared on 3/05 that’s hard.’’ A flame emoji came after his declaration.
“It’s so difficult to come your first year and sort of be told that you can’t play and he had to just sort of do nothing for a long time in the fall,” Diaz said before spring practice began, “and then he could kind of do some non-contact, 7-on-7 stuff. Avantae’s such a competitor. He just wants to play.”
Added Diaz back in March after he relayed to Williams that he was cleared to play: “The joy on his face and in his voice when he found out that he’s going to go through spring was really, really emotional. It was fun to hear.”
Diaz had said that Williams spent last season focusing on academics and the weight room.
The Hurricanes’ deepest position on defense is safety. James Williams, not related to Avantae, is a true freshman out of Plantation American Heritage who is an incoming 2021 five-star safety that will hit the field when practice begins Aug. 6. And Bubba Bolden, a redshirt junior who accompanied UM quarterback D’Eriq King and receiver Mike Harley to represent the Canes at the ACC Football Kickoff, is considered one of the top returning safeties in the nation.
