Arkansas is having quite the little start to summer.  Yesterday we told you that a pair of football players were involved in some weekend thievery (one was arrested) and that former basketball player Patrick Beverly had claimed someone was writing papers for him during his playing days.

Now current basketball player Marcus Britt has been suspended from the team after he was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated on Saturday.

“He is a representative of the University of Arkansas and our basketball program, and needless to say, we are disappointed.  He is still part of our team, but the expectations of being a Razorback include meeting high standards on the court and off the courts.

Britt will be a junior next season.  In addition to the DWI charge, he was also hit with charges of driving with a suspended license, having no insurance, running a stop sign, and failure to appear in court for a previous speeding ticket (which led to the suspension of his license).

Florida sophomore cornerback Janoris Jenkins was tasered and arrested early Saturday morning and charged with fighting and resisting arrest without violence, according to a police report.

Jenkins, 20, was tasered and arrested after he failed to stop fighting, according to the report.

The report states Jenkins was fighting with five other people on South Main Street in Gainesville when an officer arrived and ordered them to stop fighting. Jenkins then hit another person in the head, according to the report, and the officer used the taser on Jenkins.

The report states Jenkins told police he was fighting to prevent his chain from being stolen.

Jenkins is the third Florida player to be arrested this offseason, joining offensive lineman Carl Johnson and walk-on running back Marquis Hannah. Jenkins is also the 24th player to be arrested during Urban Meyer’s four years in Gainesville.

This isn’t shaping up as a very good morning for Arkansas fans.

Sophomore defensive tackle Lavunce Askew was arrested over the weekend in connection with the theft of a laptop computer… and he was suspended indefinitely by Bobby Petrino yesterday.

(What?  Was Askew hanging out with Cam Newton?)

Razorback defensive back Matt Marshall admitted to taking an iPod Touch from the same residence that Askew took the laptop from, but Marshall returned the item and left it on the owner’s doorsteep.  He was not arrested.

Askew has been charged with felony theft.

Alabama football signee Nico Johnson was acquitted yesterday of a harassment charge file by a private complaint.

Johnson faced “a verbal, non-physical” misdemeanor charge filed by another student at his high school.

“I’m great.  I know that I didn’t do anything.  It was blown out of proportion.”

Last week we told you that sophomore cornerback CC Whitlock had been reinstated to the South Carolina football team.

Apparently he felt the need to celebrate this weekend.  On Saturday night, Whitlock was arrested at a nightclub.  As is university policy, Whitlock is now back ON suspension until the matter is resolved.

The 20 year-old Whitlock had been drinking at the club in Chester, South Carolina and refused to leave when he was asked to do so.  He was charged with trespassing.  He had also been involved in a “disturbance” at the same bar a week earlier according to the club’s owner.

Obviously, at the moment, things don’t look to good for Mr. Whitlock.

No word on whether or not Gamecock fans have taken to calling the oft-troubled young man “Nit” Whitlock.

He was a star high school running back in Manatee County, Florida… until he got high.  (Click that link.  Great song.)

He was committed to play football at South Carolina… until he got high.

Now Benjamin Axon has been arrested on a charge of marijuana possession with intent to sell.  That whole “intent to sell” thing doesn’t look too good.

Axon, who’s already 19 or 20 (depending on the report you read), signed to play for Carolina this fall.

USC officials have made no comment on Axon’s future with the Gamecocks.

A couple of hours ago I posted our latest take on the case of current Tennessee defensive back Brent Vinson.

According to a source, the Knoxville Police Department believes there is some connection between the shooting witnessed at 2am Wednesday by Vinson and the home invasion/robbery that took place about 36 hours earlier.

That home invasion resulted in former UT basketball player Ramar Smith being arrested and released on $15,000 bond.

The Knoxville News Sentinel is now reporting that Smith was charged with stealing $6000 in cash, guns and a half pound of marijuana during the armed invasion.

Question… what type of person has that in his house to steal?  Uh-huh.

Now, it’s believed that Vinson was hanging out a day and half later at the home of another rough-and-tumble fellow when two men entered that townhouse and shot the resident multiple times, leaving him in critical condition.

As we suggested earlier, all of this appears to be tied to drugs.

Smith’s pilfering of $6000, guns and ganja would seem to make that even more apparent.

And if the two situations are connected, even though Vinson was just a witness to the shooting, it’s VERY likely that he’ll be booted from the Vol football team. 

With a history of missteps, it’s unlikely his new coaches will be very forgiving of a young man who once again chose to put himself in harm’s way with some folks who — at the very least — are of “questionable” character.

You think Lane Kiffin might ask, “What were you doing there?”  I’m guessing he will. 

Then again, predicting Kiffin’s actions ain’t exactly an easy way to make a living.

At about 2am Wednesday morning in Knoxville, Tennessee defensive back Brent Vinson witnessed a shooting at a townhouse.  Police have repeatedly said that Vinson is just a witness, not a suspect in the shooting.

But that still might not be enough to keep Vinson on the UT football team.

A quick look at all of the circumstances surrounding the case (and Vinson’s history at UT) all lead back to two words — drugs and trouble.

Let’s recap:

In 2007, Vinson signed to play football at Tennessee.  His friend from Hampton, Virginia, Duke Crews also signed on to play basketball at Tennessee.

Following the 2007-2008 basketball season last spring, Crews along with Ramar Smith were kicked off of the Tennessee basketball team for academic issues as well as violations of UT’s drug policy.

Last fall, Vinson was suspended for the Vols’ season-opener against UCLA for violating Tennessee’s attendance policy.  He was suspended for part of the Vols’ Northern Illinois game after showing up late for a team meeting.

He also served a one-game suspension later in the season (against South Carolina) because Knoxville police had issued him five citations including one for misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

On Monday afternoon, Smith, the former Vol basketball player allegedly took part in a home invasion robbery at a Knoxville apartment complex. 

Then came the shooting across town at another townhouse early Wednesday morning.

Police have not ruled out the possibility of a connection between the two crimes.  As we’ve written previously, we took that to mean that police believe the two crimes are connected.

Indeed, a source tells MrSEC.com that Knoxville police are of the opinion that the home invasion robbery (which involved drugs and cash) is tied to the shooting a day later.

Smith turned himself into authorities this morning for the home invasion and aggravated robbery and was released on $15,000 bond an hour later.

The shooting — which left the victim in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds — appears to have been drug-related as well.

According to a source near the investigation, the fact that Vinson was on-hand at the home of the victim does not reflect well on the current UT football player.

With his history of off-field issues and his connections — in some way or another — to Smith and to the victim in the Wednesday morning shooting, frankly, it would be surprising if Vinson is back on the Tennessee football team next fall.

It is more likely that he will become the 12th member of the Tennessee team to either depart or be dismissed since Lane Kiffin took over the Vols program.

Former Tennessee point guard Ramar Smith surrendered to police today on charges of aggravated robbery in Knoxville.

The home invasion robbery took place on Monday.  Police are still trying to determine if that incident is connected to a shooting on Wednesday night on the other side of town.

Current football player Brent Vinson was a witness to the shooting that left a man in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds.

In other words, Vinson has probably already told the cops that Smith was or was not one of the two men involved in the shooting.

Since the police aren’t stating definitively that one incident is not related to the other, well, you might be able to do some math there.

Smith was kicked off of Tennessee’s team after his sophomore season in 2007-2008 before academic problems and a violation of UT’s substance abuse policy.

UPDATE – Smith has now been released on $15,000 bond after a one-hour stay in the Knox County jail.

He has been charged in connection to an an armed home invasion robbery.  There is still some question as to whether that crime had any connection to the shooting that Vinson witnessed.

All it would take to clear that up would be for Vinson to say, “It wasn’t him.”  Since police aren’t ruling out a connection between the cases, we can probably conclude that Vinson has NOT said, “it wasn’t him.”

And judging from Smith’s hairstyle (and no that’s not his mugshot), the former Vol would probably be pretty hard not to recognize.

Well, this is too complicated a story to do anything but lay out what’s known at the moment.

Current Tennessee defensive back Brent Vinson was a witness to an overnight shooting in Knoxville.  Police have said that Vinson is not considered a suspect.

Police are also trying to find former Vol basketball player Ramar Smith  in connection with a home invasion robbery.

A police spokesperson said, “It is undetermined at this point if the incidents are connected.”

The victim in the shooting is in critical condition as of this afternoon.  He was shot last night.

When officers arrived at the man’s townhouse last night, they found the victim and several witnesses who explained that they had seen two men fleeing the area.  The victim had been shot multiple times.

Vinson was one of the witnesses in the townhouse at the time of the shooting.

How does Smith fit in to this?  Does Smith fit into this?

Well, police want to talk to him about a home invasion that took place on Monday.

Smith was booted from the Tennessee team following the 2007-2008 season due to poor grades and a violation of UT’s drug policy.