Duquesne University junior power forward Stuard Baldonado, who was one of five basketball players shot last year, was suspended from the school yesterday after his arrest Friday on drug charges.

Mr. Baldonado, 22, who did not play last weekend in Toronto because of academics and a long rehabilitation for bullet wounds in the left elbow and lower back, was charged with criminal conspiracy involving the manufacture, delivery or possession of a controlled substance.

According to a police report, Mr. Baldonado was with another group of men who were being observed by Pittsburgh police near the corner of Van Braam Street and Forbes Avenue around 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Police said Mr. Baldonado acted as a lookout while another man crossed the street and handled a drug transaction. Police said the unidentified man then crossed back over to where Mr. Baldonado was standing and the two got into a taxi.

Officer Paul Roetter, with the city's Special Response Unit, then pulled the taxi over to search Mr. Baldonado and the other individual. Officer Roetter found two baggies of marijuana and two cell phones on the man with Mr. Baldonado.

Police did not find any drugs on Mr. Baldonado, but because he was observed watching the street as the individual with him performed a drug transaction and then got into the same car, Mr. Baldonado was charged with conspiracy, police said.

Mr. Baldonado was released on his own recognizance.

Duquesne basketball coach Ron Everhart said he suspended Mr. Baldonado indefinitely from the team after being informed that Mr. Baldonado had been suspended by the university.

"Our basketball players are held to the same standard of accountability as the general student population," said Mr. Everhart. "We fully expect them to adhere to university policies and procedures at all times."

Mr. Baldonado was one of five Duquesne University students shot Sept. 17 after an on-campus dance. He was shot in the arm and the bullet severed an artery and then traveled through his back, just missing his spine.