FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Coach John L. Smith said Wednesday the most recently arrested Razorbacks football players will not be back in school until they resolve legal issues and that there is no certainty they will all return to the program.
Receivers Maudrecus Humphrey and Marquel Wade and tight end Andrew Peterson have been on suspension since their felony arrests May 13 for residential burglary. Humphrey and Peterson face nine counts, while Wade faces one count in burglaries that University of Arkansas police say resulted in the theft of items such as laptops, textbooks and DVDs valued at $4,817.
“It’s very serious,” Smith said before his talk to theNorthwest Arkansas Razorback Club at the Town Center. “It’s a felony.
“It’s a serious, serious thing, and again, they’re not a part of this football team until this thing gets cleared up or they may never be a part. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Smith said Humphrey, Peterson and Wade do not have lockers in the Broyles Athletic Center at this point. Smith said he also tried to drive home the consequences of bad behavior in a team meeting after hearing about the three arrests.
“We’ve tried to, again, explain to them what is going to be accepted, what is not going to be accepted, what’s going to be the consequences,” Smith said. “We’re going to demand they do the right things.
“I think that’s the way it should be in every program.”
Six Razorbacks football players have been arrested since the start of spring, and one of those players, receiver Kane Whitehurst, has been released from his scholarship.
Offensive tackle Jason Peacock, charged with theft of property and using a stolen credit card to charge $35.01 in gas, has been reinstated.
Linebacker Tyler Gilbert, charged with aggravated residential burglary April 18, was a different case than the three most recent arrested players.
“Tyler has at least a locker to work out in, if I might say that,” Smith said. “Everything is not done yet by any means, but that was a deal prior tomy getting here and everything was in motion prior to that.”
Smith indicated that player movement, such as the departures of Whitehurst, receiver Quinta Funderburk and linebacker Brock Haman this spring, might not be over.
Asked if there would be further departures, Smith hesitated a few moments before saying, “Maybe. ... That’s a distinct possibility.”
Smith also had some lighthearted moments in a 25-minute sit-down with members of the media.
Asked about the new video board being installed at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, he cracked, “You see that crane out there? They’ve got a legit crane! I just hope they don’t find me hanging from the end of it.”
Smith also joked when asked if the recent openingof his Twitter account was his idea.
“You know I’m Mr. Tweet,” he said. “Come on, you know that’s not my idea.”
Smith has tweeted pictures of the ongoing construction of the football’s operation center but credited that to Mark Robinson, the team’s director of operations.
“It’s coming from my mouth, but not my hands,” Smith said.
“It’s a means for us, you can actually carry on a conversation with a [prospect], and it’s legal for us, recruiting-wise. The coaches all have Facebook accounts. You’ve got to be able to Facebook. You’ve got to be able to Twitter. It’s today’s world.”
Smith said the football team’s grades came in a couple of weeks ago, and he was beaming when he mentioned it.
“I had to go in and compliment our football team because of the fact that, you know, the adversity they’ve been through and then doing as well as they’ve been academically,” he said. “We can still do better - we are going to do better - but they did well for the most part.
“It was as good of a one semester as we’ve ever had.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 05/24/2012