Former Southern, A&T Hoops Player Arrested

By Nikki G. Bannister
Black College Wire

Joe Holmes, a junior from Charlotte, N.C., and former member of the Southern, North Carolina A&T and Eastern Oklahoma State College basketball squads, was arrested and held in Orleans Parish Prison after firing a gun on Bourbon Street in New Orleans after the Southern-Grambling State football game Nov. 27.

Credit: Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office Joe Holmes at his arrest.

According to the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office Inmate Information Web site, he was charged with the illegal use of a weapon and illegal carrying of weapons. Bail was set at $7,500.

Just three days before, Holmes was dismissed from Southern's basketball team, where he was a forward, said men's basketball coach Michael Grant. Grant said Holmes was dismissed for breaking team rules, but did not elaborate.

Holmes had also been dismissed from the teams at North Carolina A&T and Eastern Oklahoma State.

Robert Bennett, dean of student life, said that he received a call from a reliable source in New Orleans that Orleans Parish Sheriff's officials apprehended Holmes for misconduct.

He said that after verifying that Holmes was indeed in jail, his next step was to get him released and back on campus so that the incident could be properly handled.

"Our students must understand that all students and members of campus organizations are governed by rules in the Southern University Code of Conduct," he said. "They must also understand that if they violate these rules -- whether they are on campus or not -- they are subject to judicial review and subject to suspension or expulsion from the university."

Nikki G. Bannister is a student at Southern University who is managing editor of The Southern Digest.

Posted Dec. 6, 2004