Arkansas TE Jeremy Sprinkle suspended for Belk Bowl for shoplifting from Belk store
Arkansas has suspended tight end Jeremy Sprinkle for Thursday evening’s Belk Bowl, and the suspension reportedly stems from an incident during the bowl festivities.
In a press release put out Thursday afternoon, the program said Sprinkle’s suspension was because of “conduct detrimental to the team.” Coach Bret Bielema specified that the suspension for Sprinkle is not “drug, alcohol or violence related,” but is “one that will cause him to miss” the bowl game.
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So what happened? As part of the bowl gifts associated with the Belk Bowl, players from both Arkansas and Virginia Tech receive a $450 gift card for a shopping spree at a Belk department store. According to SECCountry.com, that $450 wasn’t quite enough for Sprinkle:
Sprinkle was cited for attempting to shoplift eight items from the store and released. The items were placed in his shopping bag after the fact, according to the person who made the initial complaint at the SouthPark Mall. Charlotte police officers arrived and cited Sprinkle at 7:48 p.m. local time. The Razorbacks had just finished a 90-minute shopping spree in which each player was given $450 to spend however they wanted at the store.
The items recovered from Sprinkle’s possession were:
Black Ralph Lauren shirt – $55
Blue-striped classic-fit boxer – $16
Tandoori spice marl collared shirt – $45
Gray collared shirt – $45
Nike black crew socks – $18
SB Tech black XL shirt – $12.99
Tan Nautica wallet – $38
Brown wallet – $30
Sprinkle is a senior, too, so this suspension ends his career. Bielema said the team has known about the suspension for “several days,” so they’ve been able to prepare for the game without him.
“Jeremy’s suspension has been known by our staff and players for several days so we’ve had a chance to prepare our game plan accordingly,” Bielema said. “Throughout his career and this season as a graduate student-athlete, Jeremy has displayed numerous times the qualities we want to represent our program. We have standards within our family that must be upheld on a daily basis and unfortunately he failed to do that in the last week.”
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Sprinkle is third on the team with 33 receptions and tied for second with four touchdown catches. His 380 receiving yards ranks fourth on the Razorbacks.
Sprinkle finishes his career with 71 catches for 921 yards and 11 touchdowns.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
