The Alabama Crimson Tide won the BCS national championship, but the school has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons, including on Friday when three of four players who were charged with robbery were barred from campus.
According to ESPN.com, the players are suspended from campus until a judicial review is conducted by the Student Judicial Board next week, said university spokeswoman Deborah Lane on Friday. The three players, defensive back Eddie Williams, 20, and linebackers Tyler Hayes and D.J. Pettway, were all charged in separate incidents of two different students dating back to last Monday.
The report says that Williams, Hayes and Pettway are charged with two counts of second-degree robbery, while Williams also has the additional charge of fraudulently using a credit card. On top of that he also was also arrested a day earlier and charged with carrying a pistol without a permit.
Following the news of the arrests, known Auburn alum (rival of Alabama) Charles Barkley mocked the players and the school on TNT's "Inside the NBA" on Thursday. During the show, Barkley came on screen wearing a bandage around his head as if he was in a fight while visiting the campus.
"Ernie, you're not gonna believe this," Barkley said to Johnson. "Being the Auburn guy that I am, I wanted to be first class. I went down to the University of Alabama to congratulate the Crimson Tide on winning a BCS Championship and I got mugged. I got mugged in Tuscaloosa, Ernie, and my credit cards are missing."
Barkley continued with his fellow hosts, as Kenny Smith said he was an "Alabama hater" and should "leave them kids alone." Barkley shot back: "Oh, it's my fault they buggin' people?"
Barkley is known as being staunchly Auburn, but either way, the arrests are a bad mark for a team and a coach in Nick Saban that prides itself on doing things the right way.
All four students were released on bond after being arrested and Tuscaloosa District Judge Joel Chandler has allowed Williams to spend his time at home in Panama City, Fla., while out.