March Madness: Virginia Tech's Ty Outlaw to play despite marijuana charge

March 28 (UPI) -- Virginia Tech guard Ty Outlaw was charged with possession of marijuana last Thursday, but passed a drug test and will play Friday against top-seeded Duke.

Sources told the Roanoke Times and the Daily Press that while Outlaw was in San Jose, Calif., last week for the team's first-round NCAA tournament game against Saint Louis, Blacksburg (Va.) police executed a search warrant on his apartment.

Outlaw was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana March 21. His hearing is scheduled for April 11, according to the Roanoke Times.

Despite the pending charge, the sixth-year senior didn't fail a drug test Wednesday before the Hokies left for Washington, D.C. for a game against the Blue Devils, according to the Daily Press. Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams released a statement Thursday and cleared Outlaw to play.

"I appreciate that there are questions relative to Ty Outlaw and his status," Williams said. "Ty has given me permission to share this information. The disturbance that led to the search warrant occurred while Ty and our team were in California last week. While Ty and our team were still in California, the authorities executed the search. Upon our return to Blacksburg on Monday evening, Ty became aware of the situation and was fully cooperative and transparent with local authorities and me.

"After gathering more information, we decided that an outside agency should perform a drug test on Ty prior to us departing campus on Wednesday and that test came back negative. After discussion with our director of athletics Whit Babcock and our athletics administration in accordance with our policies and procedures, we are following our departmental protocol involving misdemeanors.

"With that information in mind, we intend to play Ty on Friday evening. We will continue to let the process play out and that's all I can say at this time. If information changes, we will respond appropriately according to our policies."

Outlaw played against Saint Louis in the first round and had seven points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes. He had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in 39 minutes against Liberty in the second round.

Outlaw is the Hokies' top 3-point threat, hitting on 45.6 percent (78-of-171) of his 3-point attempts this season, which was second-most in the ACC.