A busy New Year's Day in Knoxville

Four Tennessee basketball players busted with guns, weed

The Associated Press
KNOXVILLE — Four Tennessee basketball players, including starting senior forward Tyler Smith, are facing felony gun and misdemeanor drug charges.

The Knoxville Police Department says the 23-year-old Smith, 22-year-old junior point guard Melvin Goins, 22-year-old junior center Brian Williams and 21-year-old sophomore guard Cameron Tatum were arrested during a Friday morning traffic stop near Tennessees campus.

According to a police report, officers smelled marijuana coming from the car and found a handgun with an altered serial number, a bag of marijuana and an open container of alcohol. Tatum was driving.

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said in a statement that the team takes such matters seriously. Pearl says officials are still gathering information from authorities.

 

Considering some of the outlaws Bruce recruited at Southern Indiana, it's hard to read this and not chuckle.

 

There's hope yet of retaining the Fulmer Cup!

 

I guess the Tennessee basketball team is tired of being overshadowed by the Vols football team in the police blotter department and took matters into their own hands.....

 

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/jan/01/smith-among-four-basketball-vols-arrested/

At least the basketball players weren't trying to get away in Scion!

 

23-year-old senior, 22-year-old juniors, 21-year-old sophomore. There's the problem. These idiots aren't there to do anything but fuck around while playing basketball, and they take extra long to do it.

 

I'm guessing this will be just like the football arrests ... the less-talented guys will take the fall and Smith will skate with maybe a one-game suspension.

(Yeah, I know Nu'Keese Richardson is an über-talent, but he was on his way out before his arrest anyway. Janzen Jackson was the one they wanted to salvage, and did).

 

Biggest part of this story might end up being the car. Apparently, it was a rented Dodge Charger with Illinois tags, and police aren't sure who rented it yet. Could possibly open up a case with the NCAA.

 

In the case of the football player . . . CHARGES WERE DROPPED because a police investigation found that he had NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE of the alleged attempted robbery and was NOT PRESENT when it took place.

Those pesky facts just keep getting in the way sometimes. But at least you started your post correctly: "I'm guessing . . . "

 

Future Wizards?

 

Beat me to it.

Doogie Howser weeps.

 

The Illinois tag part is a red herring; rental cars have out-of-state tags all the time...but the rest of the story is certainly eye-brow raising.