Tito Horford Kicked Off LSU Basketball Team

Alfredo (Tito) Horford, the highly recruited 7-foot freshman center from the Dominican Republic, has been “permanently dismissed” from the Louisiana State University basketball team, Coach Dale Brown said Sunday in Baton Rouge, La.

Brown said Horford, who came to LSU after he was ruled ineligible to play at the University of Houston because of a recruiting violation, missed practice Friday for personal reasons. Brown also said there had been continued tampering with Horford by other universities.

When asked whether tampering had anything to do with Horford’s personal problems, Brown said, “I assume that there must have been. There has been direct tampering with him.

“All I can tell you is we are turning over all of our information to the NCAA and to the Southeastern Conference.”

Brown refused to discuss what the personal problems might be but “(Horford) came here with 12 pesos. There was a lot of pressure on him that created personal problems.”

Brown, who just last week had praised Horford’s work habits and said he was a “delight to coach,” said he has no idea where the player is or whether he plans to stay at LSU but added that he did talk to Horford’s family Sunday and “they apologized for any inconvenience.”