crews, smith dismissed from ut basketball team

Violations of the University of Tennessee’s substance-abuse and academic shortcomings allegedly led to the dismals of Tennessee sophomore forward Duke Crews and sophomore point guard Ramar Smith from the Volunteers basketball team last Friday.

UT head coach Bruce Pearl made the announcement on the same day anther prominent Tennessee basketball player, Chris Lofton, was heralded for his courage and good character after it was revealed he had privately and discreetly waged a battle against cancer for the past year.

Pearl maintained that the departures of Crews and Smith are separate incidents and are not related to each other or because of one incident.

“I am disappointed to announce that neither Duke Crews nor Ramar Smith will be a part of the 2008-09 University of Tennessee basketball program,” said Pearl. “Both were provided every opportunity to succeed here but have not met our expectations. With both Ramar and Duke, we came to the conclusion that it was in their best interest to transfer to another institution in order to continue their academic and basketball careers.”

Crews was suspended for 30 days last September for violation of team rules reportedly due to a situation involving marijuana. Two months later, Crews missed nine games in the middle of the 2007-2008 basketball season after a routine echocardiogram revealed a possible heart defect. He returned to the court in late January and wound up averaging 5.4 points and four rebounds in 26 games.

Smith, on the other hand, averaged 7.4 points last season playing primarily as a reserve. His numbers dropped last year after averaging 14.7 points per game in 2006 as a freshman.

Crew and Smith were members of the 2006-2007 SEC All-Freshman Team. Both players will reportedly transfer to another college.