UT’s Vinson Just A Witness, But Future Still In Doubt

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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.