Um....yeah.
Durham Police confirm to ABC11 that UNC basketball player PJ Hairston, and two other men, were charged with possession of marijuana Wednesday.
Police say the sophomore guard was stopped at a license check at 10:20 p.m. at the intersection of Holloway and Guthrie streets near downtown Durham.
Hairston was also charged with driving without a license.
A spokesman for UNC Athletics tells ABC11 that they are aware of the situation.
"We are aware of the situation involving one of our athletes," UNC Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications Steve Kirschner said. "We are still gathering information and may comment further later."
Absent additional information I am not going to speculate on this other than to note it is a misdemeanor drug charge, the same type Tar Heel linebacker Quan Sturdivant was busted on in 2010. Hairston was also charged with driving without a license which again is not a huge issue. UPDATE: Via WRAL's Erin Summers, the charge was for possession of 1/2 ounce of marijuana and he was released on $1000 bond.
So unless something else to this than what's been reported, I wouldn't expect this impact the season. At the same time, there isn't any real sense of how Roy Williams handles discipline since it happens very rarely. The only legal trouble that pops to mind is Ty Lawson's arrest just prior to the NBA Draft deadline in 2008 but that didn't involve drugs. There have been internal discipline issues such as Leslie McDonald's suspension in 2012-13 and Will Graves being suspended in 2009 and dismissed in 2011. Beyond that, the Tar Heel basketball program is a fair clean ship where this issues are concerned. Assuming this ends up being a simple possession and driving charge, anything from some sort of private discipline to a one game suspension is likely what happens.
At this point, Hairston's bigger problem might not be Roy Williams but his mother Wendy Mailer.
