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Update: Smith suspended from UW football team

Jim Polzin  —  7/25/2008 6:42 am

CHICAGO -- Junior running back Lance Smith has been suspended from the University of Wisconsin football team, Badgers coach Bret Bielema announced Thursday.

"It has come to my attention that Lance has failed to meet certain requirements relating to the first-offender program he was placed in last fall,'' Bielema, who is in Chicago for the Big Ten Conference preseason media event, said in a statement.

Smith was arrested in July 2007 after a dispute with his girlfriend. He pleaded guilty last October to misdemeanor charges of battery and disorderly conduct and was referred to Dane County's first-offender program.

Smith was suspended from the team after his arrest, but the suspension was lifted in August on the same day the Badgers began their 2007 preseason training camp. However, UW athletic director Barry Alvarez and Dean of Students Lori Berquam later announced in a joint statement that Smith would be suspended for each of the Badgers' five road games as the resolution of a non-academic misconduct case.

Bielema lobbied on behalf of Smith to get the suspension reduced, but those efforts failed and Smith sat out games at UNLV, Illinois, Penn State, Ohio State and Minnesota.

Smith, a native of Warren, Ohio, played in eight games and finished with 429 yards and three touchdowns on 71 carries. His average of 6.0 yards per attempt was tops among UW tailbacks.

Smith was expected to be part of a strong UW running back group this season that also includes junior P.J. Hill, sophomore Zach Brown and redshirt freshman John Clay. The UW coaching staff was even tinkering with the idea of splitting Smith out as a wide receiver at times to get him on the field.

According to the statement released by the UW athletic communications staff, Smith is "suspended from competition and practice pending the availability of further information relating to this matter.''

Jim Polzin  —  7/25/2008 6:42 am