A college basketball player in Arkansas claims he was kicked off his team because of his dreadlocks, saying he felt “disrespected and devalued” during the first meeting with his new coach.

Tyler Williams, a 6-foot guard who was set to be top returning scorer at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, said men’s head basketball coach Jim Boone made his feelings about the senior’s appearance abundantly clear at an Aug. 16 meeting by telling him that he wouldn’t recruit players with a similar hairstyle.

“To kick someone off the team just because of their hair, that’s not right,” Williams told The Oklahoman. “I just felt disrespected and devalued after he told me that.”

Williams, who recorded the meeting with Boone and his parents, started the sit-down by reminding Boone about previous comments he had allegedly made about the player’s hair, according to a recording provided to the newspaper.

“When you came in, you had talked about my hair and you not liking it and not wanting to recruit anybody with locks like mine,” Williams told Boone.

“It’s not that we don’t recruit them, but we make it very clear that once they get in here they’re not going to have their hair that way,” the coach replied. “I told you though, because you were here before me, that I didn’t think it was fair for me to tell you you needed to cut your hair, that I was going to let you have it.”

But Boone’s reasoning didn’t satisfy Williams, who accused the coach of discrimination. The conversation then shifted to Boone suggesting that Williams simply leave the team as Williams insisted his hairstyle had no impact on his play, The Oklahoman reports.

“What it has to do with is the face of our program,” Boone told Williams. “Listen, if you have a problem with that, Tyler, you don’t have to be here.”

Boone then dismissed Williams from the team after the guard questioned why his locker was moved while other returning players stayed put, according to the recording.

“You don’t need to be here,” Boone said. “You don’t need to be a part of this team. If you want to go to school here, you can do that, and you can keep your scholarship here. But you don’t need to be on this team.”

Williams’ parents detailed the meeting in an Aug. 19 letter to university officials, alleging “blatant and demonstrative” discrimination on behalf of Boone, whose attorney insists Williams wasn’t mistreated and left the school on his own accord.

“Coach Boone’s attitude about player’s hairstyles is admittedly old-school, but it’s not discriminatory,” attorney Tom Mars told KHBS in a statement. “He’d feel the same way if a young Larry [Bird] was playing for UA-Fort Smith. That said, he’s going to make it abundantly clear to everyone concerned that he recruits players based on their talent and character. Coach Boone also wants to make clear that, despite what he thinks about personal grooming standards for student-athletes, he doesn’t believe (and never has) that a player’s hairstyle, tattoo sleeves, or body piercings are indicative of their character or their potential to become the next Larry [Bird] or LeBron James.”

Mars claimed in a statement to The Post on Friday that Williams had intended to transfer from the university in early August after two players joined the team from other schools, likely diminishing Williams’ role.

Mars cited the “new evidence” after interviews with two of Williams’ teammates who relayed conversations they had with him, claiming the senior guard needed to show he was “being mistreated by the coaching staff” or he’d lose a year of eligibility at another school.

The university’s chancellor, Terisa Riley, said in a statement released Tuesday that an investigation into the allegations was underway. Boone, who joined the program in April, remains as the team’s head coach.

A message seeking comment from a university spokeswoman was not immediately returned Friday. Williams has since transferred to Southern Nazarene University.