Three Arkansas players arrested on suspicion of forgery
Arkansas was already poised for a fall next season after stars Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls both opted to enter the NBA draft.
What happened Wednesday won’t help.
Arkansas has indefinitely suspended guard Anton Beard and forwards Jacorey Williams and Dustin Thomas after they were arrested on suspicion of first-degree forgery.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that surveillance cameras caught all three players using counterfeit bills at three different locations last Friday and Saturday. First-degree forgery is a Class B felony in Arkansas that can carry a prison sentence of five to 20 years.
“We have become aware of a pending legal issue involving three men’s basketball student-athletes,” a statement from the Arkansas athletic department said. “The student-athletes have been suspended indefinitely from the men’s basketball program. Our continued expectation is that our student-athletes conduct themselves in an appropriate manner at all times.”
While Thomas is a Colorado transfer who will not be eligible to play until the 2016-17 season and Williams has been a reserve for his first three years in Fayetteville, Beard was supposed to be one of the Razorbacks’ standouts during the 2015-16 campaign.
Beard averaged 5.7 points per game as a freshman last season and showed glimpses of potential. The point guard sparked Arkansas for a stretch during league play this past season but faded terribly late in the year and went scoreless in the NCAA tournament.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
