By Wesley Rucker

Staff Writer



KNOXVILLE — Marijuana was confiscated from suspended Tennessee sophomore forward Duke Crews’ on-campus apartment Monday night, according to university police records.

Willard Vincent “Duke” Crews, 19, has not been arrested or cited, but the incident report said an investigation is pending.



Keith Lambert, University of Tennessee Police Department captain and public information officer, said he does not “anticipate any criminal charges being filed” against Crews.



“That’s not because he’s a student-athlete, but because this is standard procedure for any student,” Lambert said. “The only time we file charges is for something that would be considered a felony, like if you had someone with a significant amount of drugs, or drugs bagged up and scales and money, where it’s obviously packaged for re-sell.



“It’s not a criminal thing we’re looking at in most cases. It’s more about student health and welfare.”

Lambert said student judicial affairs would also deal with Crews’ situation, but that organization “will not release anything.



“I’ve been here 20 years,” Lambert said. “This is the same way things have always been. It’s nothing out of the ordinary, and student-athletes are not treated any differently.”



Crews was suspended from the team indefinitely by Vols coach Bruce Pearl on Wednesday night for “violations of team rules.”



Sophomore guard Josh Tabb is listed on the incident report as Crews’ roommate, but Pearl said Friday that Tabb does not live with Crews and is still an active member of the basketball team. A university official said Tabb recently moved off-campus with some UT football players.



Pearl declined further comment on Crews — saying his Wednesday statement was all that needed to be said — but he confirmed that this incident wasn’t the only reason for the suspension.



“Duke is a very intelligent student-athlete but has made some poor decisions,” Pearl said in Wednesday’s athletic department release. “It is in his, as well as the team’s, best interest that he is suspended at this time.”



According to the UTPD incident report, two “small” bags of marijuana and an “air freshener top with some leaves and residue of marijuana” were confiscated from Crews’ room Monday night. Bob Sterner, the Apartment Residence Hall’s assistant hall director, was granted permission by the university’s Dean of Students office for the search, according to the report.



One bag of marijuana was found in a shoe underneath a couch, while the other bag of marijuana and the air freshener were in “the top dresser drawer in the front bedroom,” the report said.



Sterner “stated he received a complaint about loud noise” from Crews’ room, the report said. He then “stated he went to the room to address the problem, and when the occupant opened the door ....



(Sterner) smelled a strong odor coming from the room that he believed to be marijuana,” according to the report.



The report said Sterner then got permission to search the room, but no one was there when he returned, so he entered the apartment, searched the room and confiscated the items. A UTPD officer was dispatched at approximately 8:16 p.m. to speak with Sterner about the confiscated items, according to the report. The report said the officer collected the items and placed them in an evidence locker.



Crews, one of nation’s highest rated high school signees in 2006, was named to the coaches’ All-SEC freshman team last season. The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, starting 18 times. He led the Vols with 32 blocked shots and was their second-leading rebounder. His quickness, strength and leaping ability overcame a lack of ideal height to make him a solid low-post defender.



Tennessee’s first preseason game in newly-renovated Thompson-Boling Arena is Nov. 2 against California (Pa.) University. The Vols are expected to have a very high preseason ranking, and many national analysts have predicted them to reach the Final Four.



E-mail Wesley Rucker at wrucker@timesfreepress.com

See tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press for complete coverage.