Former Trinity and Manchester Memorial basketball star David Madol was dismissed from the Southern New Hampshire University basketball team last week after he was arrested and charged with two counts of theft and unlawful possession of alcohol.

"He was suspended and dismissed for conduct detrimental to the team," said Southern New Hampshire head coach Stan Spirou. "It's all a shock and surprise for all of us."

Madol, 20, allegedly stole two bottles of peach vodka from the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet on Bicentennial Drive in Manchester on Dec. 20. According to the police report, he turned over the vodka when confronted by store employees. The store manager told the arresting officer that Madol had also tried to steal a bottle of peach vodka from the same store on Dec. 8.

Madol, a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman forward, made his debut for the Penmen in November after sitting out last year as a partial academic qualifier and missing the first four games of this season due to knee surgery and a two-game suspension for playing in a non-sanctioned summer league game. He averaged 6.0 points and 5.2 rebounds in five games.

"It's unfortunate for a kid like this, the stuff that he's gone through, for him to be in this position," Spirou said. "It's disheartening to see that someone can give away stuff he's worked so hard for. Being in this business for a long time, I'm at a loss for words."

In high school, Madol was a two-time New Hampshire Union Leader All-State selection, first after his junior season at Trinity, where he spent three years, then after his senior season at Memorial, where he transferred after leading Trinity to the 2009-10 Class L championship.

Southern New Hampshire University will make a final decision on Madol's future with the team after it concludes an internal investigation, Spirou said.

"Right now, we only know minor details in terms of what happened," Spirou said.

The team, which was 3-2 with Madol and 3-1 without him, next plays Sunday against host Wilmington (Del.) University. Spirou said it's tough to determine what the loss of Madol will mean to the team.

"It's hard to gauge because he's only played four, five games," Spirou said. "Right now we need to move on. Our concern right now is that he gets his life back in order. That's more important than any game or anything that happens to us athletically as a program."