SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- For six weeks, Devin Gray stayed away from Clemson's home basketball games.
If the game was on television, he'd watch it in his apartment. The last place Gray wanted to be was Littlejohn Coliseum.
Gray wondered what people might say to him. He was supposed to be Clemson's star this season. He had worked his way back after an April 4 heart attack.
But on Dec. 28 the 6-foot-6 senior forward from St. Frances in Baltimore was ruled academically ineligible, ending his college career, though he was permitted to enroll as a student for the second semester.
"I didn't know how people would respond," Gray said. "I didn't want people to come up to me and get mad at me and say that I should be out there. So I just stayed away."
Saturday, after missing seven home games, Gray showed up for Clemson's 62-44 loss to Virginia because his friend and former Tigers star Chris Whitney, now with the San Antonio Spurs, was attending the game.
But while Whitney sat down low at half-court, Gray watched from an aisle high above.
"A few people saw me," said Gray. "It wasn't too bad. They just wished me luck and wanted to know what I was going to do in the future. I don't think anybody blamed me."
Gray said he flirted with playing overseas but realized it would be best for him to stay in school and keep in shape to prepare for the NBA draft.
NBA scouting director Marty Blake said he will invite Gray to Chicago's NBA pre-draft camp in June and maybe to the Portsmouth, Va., camp in April.