Former Vols point guard Smith posts $15,000 bond

KNOXVILLE — Former University of Tennessee basketball player Ramar Smith posted a $15,000 bond Thursday morning following a brief stay in a local jail, according to Knoxville Police Department officials.

Smith, 22, turned himself in around 2 a.m. on Thursday for questioning regarding a Monday night home invasion.

“After being interviewed by investigators, he was served with an aggravated robbery warrant and (sent) to the Knox County Detention Facility,” KPD spokesperson Darrell DeBusk said.

Smith was charged in connection with a Monday night home invasion robbery at Steeplechase Apartments in North Knoxville, records show. Police have not identified what was stolen.

DeBusk and other UT officials still haven’t confirmed or denied a possible link between Smith’s incident and Tuesday night’s shooting in South Knoxville. Several close to the athletic department are worried about a possible connection.

Volunteers football player Brent Vinson was a witness to the shooting of friend and fellow UT student Charles Corn, who was still listed in critical condition Wednesday night at UT Medical Center.

“He was interviewed as a witness,” DeBusk said of Vinson.

Smith was primarily the Vols’ starting point guard until coach Bruce Pearl dismissed him in spring 2008, following the player’s sophomore season. The dismissal was categorized as a generic “violation of team rules.” Smith, a Mount Clemens, Mich., native, was named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team in 2007. He played professionally in Poland and Germany before arriving back in Knoxville earlier this spring.

Read Friday’s Times Free Press for more information.