A pair of Shaw University assistant football coaches have been suspended without pay following their recent arrests for drug-related offenses, the school announced today.
Court records indicate that the school's wide receivers coach Torey Renard Ross, 28, of 4001 Jaime Court in Raleigh was jailed under a $100,000 bail after he was charged on April 7 with being a fugitive from justice.
Records filed at the Wake County Clerk of Courts Office show that Ross is wanted in Hinds County, Mississippi on charges on failing to appear in court last August after he was arrested for possession of marijuana.
On the same day that Ross was arrested, police charged the school's quarterbacks coach Jermonty Curtis Kimbrough, 28, also of 4001 Jaime Court in Raleigh, with with one felony count each for possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana and maintaining a dwelling or motor vehicle to keep a controlled substance, according to records filed at the clerk of courts office.
Shaw University officials in a press statement today, identified the roommates as seasonal employees who work part-time for the football program.
CIAA football fans however may remember the roommates as college rivals for their former teams; Kimbrough starred as quarterback for Shaw when the school revived its football program in 2002. Kimbrough was a perennial leader in the conference's passing categories and led his team to the CIAA championship in 2004.
Torey started at wide receiver with the North Carolina Central University football team. He transferred from Jackson State, Mississippi and emerged as the top receiver with NCCU's high-powered offense in 2005.
Kimbrough was released from custody at the Wake County jail the same day of his arrest after posting a $30,000 bond, a jail spokesman said this afternoon.
Ross was released from custody on April 9, two days after his arrest, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Shaw officials have distanced themselves and the school from the suspended coaches.
"The university is still gathering information on the criminal proceedings; however, we have no reason to believe that the allegations involved misconduct at the university," Shaw president Irma McClaurin said in a statement released by the university." "Based on the charges, their actions do not represent Shaw or its values. Nor are they indicative of the standards of head football coach Darrell Asberry's program or his expectations for the young men in that program, including coaches."
In a statement released by Shaw, Asberry said this comes as a complete surprise.
"I am disappointed and angry," he said. "I gave these two young men a chance and had believed they were outstanding representatives of my program. These arrests call that into question. If the allegations are true, these young men have made serious mistakes and will no longer be associated with the Shaw football program."
