Tennessee Signed Bryce Thompson After Woman Alleged He Threatened to Kill Her in Restraining Order
By Sam Dunn
On the eve of their 2019 season kickoff Saturday against Georgia State, Jeremy Pruitt and the Tennessee Volunteers are in a serioiusly tight spot.
Bryce Thompson, a UT defensive back who was suspended indefinitely Monday after being arrested for domestic assault, has a sordid history dating back to before his arrival in Knoxville. In fact, there was a startling allegation made against him just one month before the Volunteers officially welcomed him into the family.
Jeremy Pruitt's got some explaining to do. https://t.co/Qaw7T8SGcL
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) August 27, 2019
After mysteriously not enrolling at South Carolina, where he was previously committed, Thompson was slapped with a restraining order by a female accuser that alleged in the official legal filing that he threatened to kill her. It's unclear whether or not Pruitt or the university had knowledge of the restraining order, but the timeline of events here is damning.
It strongly suggests that the Volunteers program should have had a better idea of who they were dealing with.
When police arrested Tennessee cornerback Bryce Thompson on Saturday on a charge of misdemeanor domestic assault, it wasn’t the first time Thompson was accused of threatening a woman. https://t.co/YgzpVIEfDf
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) August 27, 2019
Additionally, the woman who received the restraining order against Thompson alleged that she was the victim of domestic violence.
Thompson, a sophomore, was a 4-star recruit coming out of high school and received Freshman All-American honors in 2018. Despite all that promise, his football future -- indeed, his future as a free man -- look increasingly in doubt.