FanPost

Devonta Pollard arrested for... Kidnapping??

USA TODAY Sports

What the...?

From the ABC affiliate WTOK in Meridian, MS:

KEMPER COUNTY, MISS. - Three more people have been charged in connection with the kidnapping of Jashayla Hopson in Kemper County, including Univ. of Alabama basketball player Devonta Pollard.

Kemper County Sheriff James Moore said Pollard and Joyce Johnigan were arrested in Kemper County Tuesday on a charge of conspiracy to commit the kidnapping.

Moore said Shaquayla Johnigan was taken into custody in Hattiesburg and faces the same charge.

Hopson was taken from East Kemper Elementary School around noon Apr. 30. She turned up on a rural Lauderdale County Road, unharmed, the next day. The child was apparently put out of a vehicle there. She then knocked on the door of a residence there and the homeowner called authorities.

Over the next couple of days, three people were arrested, including Pollard's mother, Jesse Mae Pollard, who law enforcement claim devised the scheme because of a land dispute she had with Hopson's mother. The other two defendants are Wanda Dancy and Shamarius Ruffin.

Also from the Tuscaloosa News

Devonta Pollard had not been working out with the UA basketball team in the offseason and was reportedly contemplating a transfer to East Mississippi Community College near his Scooba home after his mother's arrest.

UA coach Anthony Grant was not immediately available for comment. Asked about Pollard last week at the SEC meetings in Destin, Fla., Grant said that Pollard was still a member of the team but was "dealing with issues bigger than basketball."

They don't give out Fulmer Cup points for basketball, do they?

Bammer- Obviously this isn't a good situation for either Pollard or the Alabama basketball team. First and foremost, concern for Pollard's personal future is more important than the effect his arrest has on the 'Bama basketball team. I sincerely hope he wasn't involved and these charges are dropped quickly. However, the gap between the original story being released weeks ago and Pollard's arrest lends me to me believe there may be some meat behind the allegations. This is truly a hope for the best type situation.

What does this mean for the Alabama basketball team? Simply put — it ain't good news. Pollard was expected to help fill the void after the transfer of both Lacey and Gueye. And if Pollard isn't able to return for the 2013 season, the Alabama frontcourt will be awfully thin. Coach Grant's seat was already starting to warm up and if the team doesn't take major steps forward it may just burst into flames..

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