KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Former Tennessee guard Detrick Mostella has a court date later this month after being cited on a misdemeanor charge of possession of unlawful drug paraphernalia.
Tennessee announced Tuesday night that Mostella had been dismissed from the team. The release announcing Mostella’s exit didn’t specify a reason for his dismissal.
”I’ve always been very clear about the standards that members of this program will be held to,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said in a statement. ”Those standards are very high, and Detrick unfortunately has not lived up to them.”
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said in a statement that Mostella ”unfortunately has not lived up to” the ”standards that members of this program will be held to.”
Mostella, 23, has a Jan. 25 court date on the misdemeanor charge. University of Tennessee police said Mostella was cited Dec. 14 after officers responded to a report regarding ”the odor of marijuana” in his residence.
University of Tennessee police also released two other reports that mentioned Mostella. The Knoxville News-Sentinel first reported the citation as well as the other two reports.
Police said a resident adviser told them on Sept. 2 that she was in Mostella’s room in June when Mostella pulled out a handgun and took it with him out of the room. After police initially knocked on Mostella’s door Sept. 2 and didn’t get an answer, Mostella consented for his room to be searched later that day. A search showed no evidence of a firearm.
Another incident report showed that during an Aug. 30 fire drill, police found and confiscated dried green stems ”consistent with marijuana stems” from a coffee table in a common area of an apartment where Mostella and Tennessee players Lamonte Turner, Robert Hubbs III and Lew Evans lived.
Lieutenant Mike Richardson of the University of Tennessee Police Department said no arrests or citations were made in connection with either the August or September report.
Mostella was averaging 10.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Although he had started only one game, Mostella was Tennessee’s second-leading scorer.
The 6-foot-1 junior from Decatur, Alabama, also had a team-high 26 3-point baskets this season and had scored 16 points per game over the Vols’ last five contests.
Tennessee (8-7, 1-2 SEC) hosts South Carolina (12-3, 2-0) in its first game without Mostella.
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