The Daily Gamecock

Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Courtesy of Lexington County Corrections Dion Lecorn caught 27 passes in 2007. Coach Steve Spurrier has suspended the Florida native indefinitely.

Media Credit: Courtesy of Rivals.com Matt Clements redshirted and did not play this past season. He will join Lecorn on the bench until further notice.

USC wide receiver Dion Lecorn has been placed on suspension by the school athletic department following his arrest in Cayce on charges of simple possession of marijuana. Fellow teammate Matt Clements has also been placed on suspension but was not arrested following the incident.

"Both Dion Lecorn and Matt Clements are suspended from all team activities indefinitely," USC football coach, Steve Spurrier, said in a release by the USC Athletics Department.

Lecorn, a 19-year-old freshman, was taken into custody Sunday night after he, Clements and another man told police they had been smoking marijuana in a car at a Cayce apartment complex. A police report said the officer smelled marijuana when she came over to the car to tell the men to turn down the music they were playing.

The officer questioned about the smell when one of the men said he had thrown a marijuana cigarette from the car. Lecorn later identified a burnt marijuana cigarette in the car's ashtray as his.

A native of Ocala, Fla., Lecorn finished fourth on the Gamecocks' roster this year with 27 catches for 315 yards and three touchdowns. Clements, a native of Naples, Fla., spent last season redshirting for the team. After questioning, police discovered that Clements was wanted in Collier County for failure to appear on a bench warrant, but the police department would not extradite him to Florida.

USC spokesman Steve Fink said he had confirmed with coach Steve Spurrier that both players would be placed on suspension from all team activities until the investigation's conclusion.

Information from the Associated Press and The State were used in this report.

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