Tabb withdraws from UT

Tennessee head basketball coach Bruce Pearl announced Wednesday that senior guard Josh Tabb has withdrawn from the university and has returned home to Illinois to be closer to his mother, who is ill. Tabb had been serving an indefinite suspension from the team since mid-September.

“Josh needs to be near his family right now,” Pearl said. “We all care very deeply about Josh, and we hate to see him have to leave. It’s been a very tough year for him, and everyone here understands that he has to be with his mother at this time.”

A native of Carbondale, Ill., Tabb lettered for the Vols from 2007-09 and averaged 2.8 points and 1.3 assists per game. A defensive specialist, he was a part of three 20-win teams, played in a pair of Sweet Sixteens and was a contributor on Tennessee’s 2008 SEC Championship team.