Former Tennessee Star Tyler Smith Signs With Turkey Basketball Team

Sports News - March 2nd, 2010 - Written By John Ritter

After his arrest on a gun charge in January, forward Tyler Smith was released by the University of Tennessee and sentenced to two years of judicial diversion.

So with his chances of playing American basketball before the NBA Draft all but gone, Smith has instead opted to move overseas. On Tuesday, the Associated Press announced that Smith signed a two-year deal with Bornova of the Turkish Basketball league in preparation for the NBA.

Smith has been out of basketball since Jan. 8, when he and three other teammates were pulled over by police for speeding. When officers approached the car, the smell of marijuana prompted a search, which turned up marijuana, an open container of alcohol and a gun with a distorted serial number. He pled guilty to possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm with an altered serial number.

He had averaged 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists in less than half of Tennessee's games.

He is still the team's third-leading scorer.

The Volunteers have knocked off two of the premier teams in the country in Kansas and Kentucky, and stand at 13th in the newest ESPN/USA Today poll.

They are longshots to win the NCAA Tournament in most College Basketball odds at online sportsbooks, but have the second-best odds of any SEC team behind Kentucky.