Arkansas blew a 24-0 lead in yesterday’s Belk Bowl, losing 35-24 to Virginia Tech. It would take some sort of monumental collapse to overshadow the pregame banishment of TE Jeremy Sprinkle, and sadly for the Razorbacks, the above result wasn’t quite monumental enough. From the Charlotte Observer’s Joe Marusak :
A University of Arkansas football player was suspended from Thursday’s Belk Bowl after police accused him of shoplifting items from the Belk store at SouthPark mall.
Senior tight end Jeremy Sprinkle was charged with shoplifting by concealment and released after Tuesday’s incident.
Sprinkle is accused of putting eight items into his bag after a shopping spree involving Arkansas and Virginia Tech players had ended, SEC Country reported. Players had 90 minutes to spend a $450 gift card on anything in the Belk store.
Sprinkle shoplifted $260 worth of items, including blue-striped Saddlebred boxer shorts, four shirts, two wallets and a pair of Nike socks, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police report.
Mike Leake was unavailable for comment.