News that South Carolina point guard Bruce Ellington was joining the Gamecock's football team was only the second most interesting bit of information to come out of Columbia Thursday night. According to Charleston Post & Courier beat writer Travis Haney, Jadeveon Clowney, the nation's number on recruit for the class of 2011, was frisked by police outside of the Salty Nut bar around 2 a.m.
Why Clowney, 18, was detained by police is not completly known but several people in South Carolina tweeted this picture of the 6-foot-6, 240 pound defensive end being frisked just outside of the bar:
The picture, taken by a South Carolina junior according to GamecockCentral.com, is a bit dark but shows Clowney being patted down by two police officers with his hands on a police cruiser. According to witnesses at the scene, several college kids (obviously aware of who Clowney was) started booing and becoming upset once the police pulled Clowney to the side.
It was later confirmed by several outlets that Clowney's high school, South Pointe High, did not have classes this morning due to a furlough day. A New York Times story shortly before Signing Day said the top ranked defensive end had issues and might not qualify for admission which would have made the incident look much worse had there been school today.
Haney reports that this isn't Clowney's first trip to a bar in the area and that he made a trip to one several weeks ago. A police report is expected to be released later today.
I will spell out the specific details at that point, but the preliminary indication is that officers were following a tip about an individual with a gun in the area and the 6-6, 240-pound Clowney fit the description.
Clowney, 18, was detained, searched and released. The Rock Hill native, a senior at South Pointe High, did not have school today. It was a furlough day.
Although it seems as though detaining Clowney was part of a routine search, the fact that he caught in the situation in the first place is enough for many people to raise their eye. This post will be updated as new information becomes available.
UPDATED: Clowney told The State his version of events and that the incident appears to be a big misunderstanding.
“I am just upset because there is stuff on the news about this,” Clowney told the paper. “I didn’t do nothing wrong. Yeah, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I didn’t have anything to do with (a robbery).”
