North Carolina’s leading scorer PJ Hairston was arrested on Wednesday night and charged with possession of marijuana and driving without a license.
Hairston was stopped at a license checkpoint in a car with two other men. He was stopped near downtown Durham, according to the report, just about a mile from Duke’s campus.
Hairston is currently out on bond.
“We are aware of the situation involving one of our athletes,” UNC Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications Steve Kirschner told ABC 11. “We are still gathering information and may comment further later.”
Hairston averaged 14.6 points last season. He is a key piece to a North Carolina team that is not going to be all that deep on the perimeter next season. The Tar Heels are 11th in our Preseason Top 25.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this. If Hairston was only caught with a small amount of weed -- i.e. he’s not selling it, he simply enjoys the occasional joint -- than I don’t think this is all that big of a deal. The fact that college kids smoke weed isn’t exactly a groundbreaking discovery. I wouldn’t have an issue with a suspension, but nothing more than a game or two, something that drives home the point that driving around with pot on you while your license is suspended is a really stupid thing to do, especially when you’re a North Carolina player in Durham.
Hairston is a native of Greensboro, NC.