Joe Holmes, a junior from Charlotte,N.C. and former forward on Southern University’s men’s basketball team, iscurrently being held in Orleans Parish Prison after firing a gun on BourbonStreet after the Southern-Grambling State football game Nov. 27.
According to the Orleans ParishCriminal Sheriffs Office Inmate Information Web site, he was charged with theillegal use of a weapon and illegal carrying of weapons. He has not beenreleased from police custody and bail has been set at a total of $7,500.
On Nov. 24, only three days before,Holmes was dismissed from the basketball team for breaking team rules, said SUmen’s basketball coach Michael Grant.
Before playing at Southern, he was amember of North Carolina A&T and Eastern Oklahoma State College basketballsquads, respectively, but was dismissed from those teams also. Since Holmes isno longer a student athlete, the Southern University Office of Student Life ishandling his calamity.
Robert Bennett, dean of student life,said that he received a call from a reliable source in New Orleans that OrleansParish Sheriffs’ officials apprehended Holmes for misconduct.
He said that after verifying thatHolmes was indeed in jail, his next step was to get him released and back on campusso that the incident could be properly handled.
“Our students must understand thatall students and members of campus organizations are governed by rules in theSouthern University Code of Conduct,” he said. “They must also understand thatif they violate these rules — whether they are on campus or not — they aresubject to judicial review and subject to suspension or expulsion from theuniversity.”
