SportsLine wire reports
April 8, 1999

HONOLULU -- Charles Tharp, who led Hawaii in rushing the past two seasons, has quit the team.

Coach June Jones said Tharp told him Tuesday that he wanted to be released from his scholarship and transfer from Hawaii.

Jones said Wednesday that he wasn't sure why the running back wanted to leave.

"I told him that's his call," Jones said. ``My feeling is, if somebody doesn't want to be here, I don't want him here, either."

Tharp declined to comment.

Tharp was suspended from the team for 30 days last month for violating an undisclosed athletic department rule. The suspension was extended by Jones to cover the team's ongoing spring practice.

Jones said Tharp had been invited to rejoin the team after the suspension.

Tharp rushed for 796 yards in 1997, when he was chosen the Western Athletic Conference's Pacific Division freshman of the year, and 679 yards last season.