Junior Guard Jaylon Tate becomes the third Illinois basketball player to get arrested this season. Tate is now in a club of dubious distinction with sophomore power forward Leron Black (facing felony charges for pulling a knife on a bouncer) and Darius Paul (kicked off the team after his second indefinite suspension for public intoxication and disorderly conduct on a preseason trip in France).
Jaylon Tate joins Black in being indefinitely suspended from the program. It’s safe to say that Illini basketball is now pretty much as awful off-the-court as they were on it this season.
Hard to imagine Black returns to the team next season, and the future of Jaylon Tate is now in jeopardy as well.
Illini Athletic director Josh Whitman and Head Coach John Groce issued a joint statement Saturday morning which read:
“It is important that we take time to fully understand the events of last evening before passing judgment. We condemn domestic violence in all its forms and will move swiftly and decisively if these allegations are substantiated.
According to ESPN, Jaylon Tate is:
“accused of striking his 19-year-old girlfriend in the face.”
and “being held Saturday in the Champaign County Jail on a domestic battery charge, and his bond hearing is scheduled for Sunday. Jail records did not indicate whether the 21-year-old has hired an attorney.”
“Sgt. Bruce Ramseyer told the (Champaign) News-Gazette that police were called by a friend of Tate’s 19-year-old girlfriend to an apartment at 1:40 a.m. Saturday. She told officers Tate hit her in the face, Ramseyer said, but declined to provide further information, including when or where the alleged violence happened.”
Whitman just gave Groce a public vote of confidence last week, but again you have to wonder how much longer he will last in the job. When your program is consistently making negative headlines, both for embarrassing play and for shameful conduct in their personal lives, you got to think Groce’s days are numbered.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
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