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Drexel suspends basketball players tied to robbery

Drexel officials on Tuesday suspended basketball players Jamie Harris and Kevin Phillip from the team indefinitely in connection with their alleged involvement in last week's gunpoint robbery of another student.

Kevin Phillip is one of three men accused of attempting to rob a fellow Drexel student. (Steven M. Falk/Staff Photographer)
Kevin Phillip is one of three men accused of attempting to rob a fellow Drexel student. (Steven M. Falk/Staff Photographer)Read more

Drexel officials on Tuesday suspended basketball players Jamie Harris and Kevin Phillip from the team indefinitely in connection with their alleged involvement in last week's gunpoint robbery of another student.

"We are disappointed by these allegations," Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said in a statement. "Should these allegations prove to be true, we find this behavior to be unacceptable and inconsistent with our program's values and mission."

A third Drexel student, Devon Bond, has also been charged in the crime, which happened last Wednesday in West Philadelphia.

"We are saddened by these allegations," Drexel athletic director Eric Zillmer said in a statement on the Dragons' website. "This comes on the heels of our basketball program being recognized by the NCAA for being a top 10 percent nationally for the last three years in academic performance."

Flint, who has led the Dragons to a combined 43-50 record the last three seasons, recruited Harris and Phillip out of New York. Last season, five of the 14 players on the Dragons' roster hailed from the Big Apple. Three of them - Derrick Thomas, Gerald Colds and point guard Harris - were starters. Phillip, a reserve forward, and guard Chris Fouch also are from New York.

Flint's coaching status remained unclear Tuesday. Neither he, Zillmer, nor other officials in the athletic department responded to calls Tuesday for comment.

The suspension from the team came one day after Drexel suspended the three 21-year-old suspects from the university "pending the outcome of the investigation."

According to police, Bond planned the robbery, which targeted an off-campus apartment on the 3500 block of Lancaster Avenue.

Harris and Phillip were enlisted as the gunmen, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives. But the three found no money and left with a only cell phone. Much of what happened was captured on surveillance cameras, Walker said.

Bond surrendered to authorities on Friday. The two athletes on Monday.

A three-year starter, Harris, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound point guard, had been the face of Drexel's basketball program. He was a third-team all-Colonial Athletic Association selection last season after averaging a team-leading 14.5 points and 3.4 assists per game.

Always polite and soft-spoken with reporters, Harris was the player Flint depended on for leadership.

Flint looked for Phillip, a 6-6, 225-pounder, to provide a spark off the bench. He averaged 2.9 points and 3.1 rebounds while playing 12.6 minutes a game. Dragon coaches often praised the junior for his toughness on the court.

The suspensions leave Drexel with only nine players for this season.

Point guard Shannon Givens left the team in April. He officially transferred to West Chester on Tuesday.

The 6-foot, 190-pound sophomore, who graduated from Fels High School, made a team-leading 45.8 percent of his shots (11 of 24) from three-point range.

Senior walk-on Ronald Colbert is the Dragons' only returning point guard.