ORIGINAL POST 8:47 a.m. ET
In and out of head coach Mark Richt‘s doghouse as a five-star freshman recruit, Isaiah Crowell had reportedly turned the corner on his “maturity” issues and was seemingly ready to become the player Georgia thought he would be in February of 2011.
Unfortunately for the running back, it appears likely that any gains made this offseason will be erased thanks to one off-field incident.
While details are very scant at the moment, Seth Emerson of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Crowell was arrested very early Friday morning and charged with carrying a weapon in a school zone, having an altered ID mark and charge of possessing/carrying a concealed weapon. The first two charges are felonies, the latter a misdemeanor.
There are no details of what incident or incidents led to the charges.
He remains in jail as of this morning, five hours after being booked.
Obviously, given the freshness of the situation, the school has yet to comment on the arrest. Based on the past year, however, Crowell’s future with the team is very much up in the air.
As a five-star member of UGA’s 2011 recruiting class, Crowell was rated as the No. 4 back by Rivals.com and the No. 23 player at any position in the country. Despite issues last season that included two suspensions, he led the Bulldogs in rushing as a true freshman with 850 yards and five touchdowns.
UPDATED 9:54 a.m. ET: Per school policy, Crowell’s felony arrest will result in an immediate and indefinite suspension.
Additionally, the Ledger Enquirer has revealed a few of the details surrounding the arrest:Crowell’s arrest resulted from a vehicle checkpoint on East Campus Road and Greene Street on the UGA campus, around 2:20 a.m., according to Athens-Clarke County spokesman Hilda Sorrow. Crowell was booked at 3:37 a.m. and remains in Clarke County jail, according to the jail’s web site, with bond set at $7,500.
As he came through, an officer smelled an odor of marijuana. They did a consent search on the vehicle. No marijuana was found, but a handgun was found below the driver’s seat. It had an altered serial number.
Crowell was the driver of the car, which had three other occupants.