Nebraska TE Arik Gilbert arrested for felony burglary after allegedly robbing liquor and vape store

Former LSU and Georgia tight end Arik Gilbert was arrested early Tuesday on a felony burglary charge in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Gilbert, who transferred to Nebraska during the offseason and is currently waiting on a ruling from the NCAA to determine if he is eligible for the 2023 season, is accused of burglarizing a liquor and vape store. Surveillance video from the store shows a man breaking into the store by kicking down doors. The man, allegedly Gilbert, is then confronted by police on his way out of the store and arrested.

Lincoln police said Gilbert attempted to steal more than $1,600 worth of merchandise, including cigars and vape pens.

Gilbert has had a tumultuous life and college career since he showed flashes of excellence in his freshman season at LSU. He had 35 catches for 365 yards and two scores in eight games for the Tigers in 2020 before transferring to Georgia ahead of the 2021 season.

The former five-star recruit sat out the 2021 season because of personal issues and played in just three games for the national champions in 2022. The Georgia native was the No. 1 tight end in the class of 2020 and the No. 9 prospect out of high school.

“Obviously really disappointed, really sad for him," Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said at a Tuesday news conference. “When we took Arik, we thought we knew that we had a good group of people that were going to help him through some of the issues that he’s dealing with in his life. I’d been really proud of the job he’d done this spring and summer. To be honest, during camp, he’s had some struggles. He’s working to overcome them. We have a great group of people trying to help him, and then obviously last night happened."

Given that Nebraska is Gilbert’s third school, he needs approval from the NCAA to play for the Cornhuskers. In the NCAA’s eyes, Gilbert’s move from LSU to Georgia counts as his one-time transfer, and he must get a waiver to play right away after his second school switch.

Concerns about that waiver, however, are now trivial, given Gilbert's arrest.