TWO OLE MISS FOOTBALL PLAYERS CHARGED

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Alishma Alexander, kicked off the Mississippi football
team earlier this summer following a drug charge, remained in jail Tuesday
following his arrest for burglary and grand larceny.

Alexander, who would have been a senior this fall, is in Lafayette County
jail in lieu of $5,000 bond. Kahlil Nash, an incoming freshman football
player, was released on the bond Tuesday, prison officials said.

Bond was set Monday after the two appeared before a county judge.

``Alishma Alexander is no longer a part of our football program. Kahlil Nash
is a new guy on our team,'' said Ole Miss coach Tommy Tuberville in a
statement released late Tuesday.

``I'm not going to make a statement concerning Kahlil until I have an
opportunity to fully investigate the matter.''

The incident was Alexander's second run-in with the law. He pleaded guilty
June 30 to misdemeanor possession of marijuana, was fined $344 and had his
driver's license was suspended for six months after his arrest in a
dormitory parking lot.

University police Capt. Randy Corban said Tuesday that about 90 percent of
the computer items taken from a dorm room late last weekend had been recovered.

``The investigation is continuing because items are still missing. These two
are the only ones involved as far as we know at this time, but the
investigation is continuing because other items are still missing.''

Campus police arrested Alexander and Nash on Friday after they entered a
room in Kincannon Hall and stole a laptop computer, a Nintendo 64 video game
system and game cartridges worth about $2,800. Corban said the laptop and
video game system have been recovered.

Corban said the two players were arrested after they attempted to pawn the
stolen items.

The victims of the alleged thefts were two high school students assigned to
the university's summer work program and who were being housed in a campus dorm.

Alexander was scheduled to play linebacker in the fall after being a running
back in the 1997 season. Nash was signed as a defensive end.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett