Senior LB Ridge Wilson arrested on drug charge

Senior linebacker Ridge Wilson has been dismissed from the football team, UK athletics spokesman Tony Neely confirmed on Monday.

WDRB 41 in Louisville, the local Fox affiliate, first reported the news that Wilson, a Louisville native and product of Central High School, was arrested early Sunday morning on a felony drug charge.

According to the report, a police officer saw a car pulled over on W. Oak Street, near 6th Street in Louisville. The officer approached the car to ask Wilson, sitting in the driver's seat, what he was doing.

Wilson allowed officers to search the vehicle. The search revealed a bag of Xanax in a pair of jeans in the back seat. Wilson also had $1,947 on his person.

He was charged with trafficking a controlled substance. As of Monday, Wilson had been released on $1,500 bond.

Wilson is due to be arraigned at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

He was suspended indefinitely on Monday morning before being dismissed late in the afternoon.

Wilson, 21, was arrested on a fourth degree assault charge after striking a girl in the face on Sept. 14, 2009. He was suspended from the team at that time but reinstated two weeks later.

Rich Brooks, head coach at the time Wilson was suspended as a freshman, said the following in a statement after Wilson rejoined the team:

"He will be given counseling as well as the understanding that any transgression in the future will be met with dismissal from the football team."

Wilson was sixth on the team in tackles in 2011 from his hybrid linebacker/defensive end spot. In his first year as a starter, he finished with 47 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks in nine games before missing the final three games with a shoulder injury.

Wilson was the only returning starter in UK's linebacking corps. He underwent surgery for a torn labrum after the season and was expected to miss most of spring practice because he would not be cleared for contact. He was also expected to be held out of most of the lifting and conditioning program in the winter.