MARYVILLE, Mo. — Northwest Missouri State guard Lance Sullivan has been indefinitely suspended from the basketball team following his Friday arrest on a charge of distributing a controlled substance to a minor.
Sullivan, a 21-year-old junior from Columbus, Ohio, was arrested at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, according to the Nodaway County Sheriff’s Department, where he was held until posting a $15,000 bond on Tuesday.
Sullivan didn’t return phone messages left by the News-Press.
Keith Wood, director of Maryville Public Safety, said that during a short investigation his department had developed information that Sullivan was involved in the alleged crime.
“We developed information that a controlled substance had, in fact, changed hands, and Mr. Sullivan was in the chain of that transition,” Wood said. “He was charged then by our prosecuting attorney.”
Wood said contact with Sullivan was initiated from the public safety department, and officers went to Sullivan’s home. He was arrested without incident.
Wood declined to divulge the type and amount of the controlled substance involved, citing that information as part of the ongoing investigation.
“I’ve had a chance to speak with Lance and his family and have explained to them that he is indefinitely suspended from the team while the legal process takes its course,” Northwest head coach Steve Tappmeyer said in a statement. “At this point, his future status with our program is uncertain.”
Sullivan, a 5-foot-11 shooter, was named the 2006-07 MIAA conference Freshman of the Year but didn’t earn postseason accolades last season. As a sophomore, he played in all 32 of the Bearcats’ games, starting 29 of them. He averaged 11.2 points per game — second on the team — and played nearly 26 minutes per contest.
Sullivan transferred to Northwest after a redshirt freshman year at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia.
In high school, he led Columbus Africentric Secondary High School to a 27-1 record and an Ohio state championship his senior year.
Attempts to reach Tappmeyer for further comment were unsuccessful.
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