Two Pepperdine Players Are Dismissed for Violations

Freshman basketball players Jamal Lawrence and Tabari Johnson have been dismissed from Pepperdine for violations of school rules.

The players allegedly stole items from student dormitories during the semester break in early December, a school spokesman said.

They were suspended by Coach Tom Asbury for five games on Dec. 17. The players returned for two games in early January, while students were still on break, but school administrators decided to dismiss the players at the start of the winter semester pending appeals hearings. Those appeals were denied last week.

Asbury said he wasn’t consulted before the final decision was made.

“My feelings were not the least bit taken into consideration and maybe they shouldn’t have been,” he said. “Obviously, the people who made the decision felt that way, but that wasn’t my decision.

“It’s an embarrassment to the program and it’s very upsetting to me, but you have to go on.”

Lawrence, a guard from Lynwood, averaged 5.3 points in six games for Pepperdine and Johnson, a forward from Phoenix, averaged 2.5 points in four games.