A&M basketball player arrested for possession

By: By Dallas Shipp

Posted: 1/21/03

A Texas A&M basketball player was released from the Brazos County Jail Monday after being arrested for possession of a controlled substance early Sunday morning.

Senior center Andy Slocum was charged with two counts of possessing a controlled substance and spent Sunday night in jail. He posted a $30,000 bail.

A&M head men's basketball coach Melvin Watkins said that Slocum would be suspended from the team until the details can be worked out and all the information can be gathered.

"I'm still waiting to get some more details and until then I don't want to rush into any type of decision or make any comments because I just don't have all the information yet," Watkins said. "(Andy's) going to step away from the team until we get all the information."

College Station Police received a phone call that someone was selling ecstasy outside a house on Turkey Creek Road.

Officer Henderson of the College Station Police Department said he responded to the phone call. As he approached, he observed a group of four men in front of the house and saw two individuals talking with each other, who he later identified as Slocum and Jared Morris, a junior linebacker for the A&M football team.

Following their discussion, Slocum got into his Chevrolet Tahoe and closed the door, while apparently searching for something on the floorboard of his vehicle. Seconds later, he reappeared from his vehicle and the other three men, including Morris, huddled around the driver's door.

The police report said Morris then handed what appeared to be cash over to Slocum and then cupped his hands as Slocum dropped an unidentified object into Morris' hands, which Henderson said is a typical narcotics transaction.

After witnessing these actions by Slocum and Morris, Henderson identified himself as a police officer. Henderson said in his report that Slocum and Morris both appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and that Slocum was incoherent in his responses.

Henderson then looked inside the window of the Tahoe and saw a large Ziploc bag containing syringes, brown glass bottles and prescription medicine bottles on top of the center console.

Henderson asked Slocum if there was anything that he should know about inside the car and Slocum replied, "No," then gave the officer permission to search his vehicle.

Police then found more drugs and syringes, including a pink pill and one vial that read "Anabolic St." on a label. Police also found a paper with a schedule for taking steroids. The pink pill found in Slocum's Tahoe later tested positive for methamphetamine, commonly known as "ecstasy."

When asked by police about the steroids and other drugs in the car, Slocum told police that he didn't know about any steroids or syringes in his truck and not everything in the truck was his.

Police then told him that because the truck belonged to him anything inside belonged to him as well. Slocum refused to tell police what did and did not belong to him inside the truck.

Morris said that he had never met Slocum before and that he had told Slocum "the beer isn't doing it for me." Slocum then told Morris that he had something in his truck that might work better for him. Morris said he assumed Slocum meant liquor and followed him to the truck.

When Slocum appeared to offer Morris ecstasy, Morris refused but did not elaborate to police what happened after that and denied that any cash was exchanged between him and Slocum.

Morris was arrested last fall for speeding and driving while intoxicated which resulted in a brief suspension by then football coach R.C. Slocum. The DWI charge was dropped by Brazos County Attorney Jim Kuboviak a few days later due to a lack of evidence.

Watkins said that he was shocked when he heard the news because he had no knowledge of Slocum ever failing a drug test.

"That kind of information I only usually get if someone doesn't pass the test," Watkins said. "But I haven't gotten anything on Andy and that's why it's kind of a surprise for me.

"He had no past history of anything like this so hopefully its just something that's a misunderstanding somewhere out there," he said.

A&M senior guard Bernard King, who has been teammates with Slocum for four years, said that everyone makes mistakes.

"I know it's tough for (Andy)," King said. "It's tough on all of us as a team. We're there for him. Everyone makes mistakes, we just didn't need this distraction right now."

Possession of steroids is a third-degree felony, punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.