KNOXVILLE — A late-morning traffic stop Friday near the University of Tennessee campus ended with four UT men’s basketball players arrested for misdemeanor drug and weapons possession charges.
Senior All-Southeastern Conference forward Tyler Smith, junior center Brian Williams, junior point guard Melvin Goins and sophomore guard Cameron Tatum were in a car that was stopped for speeding at about 11:30 a.m., according to Knoxville Police Department documents.
According to the incident report, one KPD officer immediately requested backup and a K-9 officer after approaching the vehicle, driven by Tatum, and smelling a “strong odor of marijuana.”
The four players then were removed from the vehicle so it could be searched, and officers found two handguns, drugs and an open container of alcohol. One weapon was discovered under each of the front seats, and the one discovered under Smith’s passenger seat had an altered serial number, the report said. That led to felony charges at first, but all charges were misdemeanors later in the evening, according to multiple sources.
“We take these matters very seriously,” Volunteers coach Bruce Pearl said in a statement released Friday afternoon. “We are still gathering information. Once the appropriate authorities have provided us with all of the facts, we will act accordingly.”