The two wayward gentlemen pictured above, in the process of being arrested for allegedly sticking up a customer in the parking lot of a gas station owned by one of Tennessee football's biggest boosters while wearing Tennessee gear last week, are officially Volunteers no more as of this morning:

Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin announced Monday that freshman wide receiver Nu’Keese Richardson and defensive back Mike Edwards have been permanently dismissed from the football team.

"After extensive and thorough research of the situation over the last four days and considering various disciplinary options, I’ve decided it’s in the best interest of our program to remove Nu’Keese and Mike," Kiffin said. "... My hope is that these two young men will learn from their terrible decision. Clearly, their actions have no place in our program."

Coaches tend to keep troubled players on the "indefinite suspension" list pending resolution of the legal process, so Richardson's and Edwards' unceremonious exits wouldn't seem to bode very well for their prospects in court (though neither, of course, does it prove their guilt). For the third member of the trio, though, fellow freshman Janzen Jackson, the fact that Kiffin stopped at a suspension rather than booting from the team along with his classmates may be a signal that Jackson's pending "wrong place, wrong time, wrong friends" defense might have some legs.

It was Jackson who was released from jail after having his bond waived last Thursday, and who quickly had go-to team lawyer Don Bosch stumping for his innocence in the press less than 16 hours after the arrest. Reportedly, Jackson was inside the store just getting his Snapple on when Richardson and Edwards allegedly decided to stick a gun in some kid's face, and was snatched up in the same net when the cops showed. He remains barred from the team for all intents and purposes, but if the door for Jackson's return is still open after the other two-thirds of the Prius Three have been officially culled, his involvement may have been slightly overblown.

Lil Wayne has yet to comment on the incident.