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Sports Briefs: Georgia Tech player charged with rape
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Published: July 1, 2008
Cornerback Jerrard Tarrant of Georgia Tech has been charged with rape and has been suspended from the football team.
The reported victim said she was raped at an on-campus dormitory April 25 and reported the incident to police that morning, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported yesterday.
Tarrant, 19, was released Saturday on $40,000 bail, the newspaper reported. The 6-2, 185-pound redshirt freshman from Carrollton, Ga., was considered a potential starter at cornerback.
Tarrant has been suspended indefinitely from the Tech football team pending the outcome of the case, Yellow Jackets coach Paul Johnson said in a statement.
"These charges filed against Jerrard are something that we take very seriously. He has been suspended from the team indefinitely, pending the outcome of the legal proceedings," Johnson said.
Georgia Tech campus police said the arrest report was not available yesterday afternoon.
Tarrant was competing with Mario Butler for the spot opposite Jahi Word-Daniels. Tarrant also practiced at nickel back and on special teams.
Charles Lea, an attorney representing Tarrant, said his client's side of the case will be presented at the proper time. "We maintain that any sexual activity that took place was entirely consensual," he said.
More football
■ Cornerback Derrick Martin was cited on a charge of drug abuse after police say he was found in possession of suspected marijuana at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
Police Lt. Thomas Stacho said yesterday he confirmed with Ravens director of security Darren Sanders that Martin was the individual arrested. A day earlier police were not able to confirm whether Martin was a Ravens player.
Airport screeners discovered three small packets of suspected marijuana while searching Martin at a security checkpoint Saturday, police said.
Martin was issued a ticket and will be sent a summons to appear in Cleveland Municipal Court on July 15, Stacho said. The maximum penalty for misdemeanor drug abuse is a $150 fine, chief city prosecutor Victor Perez said.
Martin, 23, was a sixth-round draft pick in 2006 out of Wyoming. He did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Baltimore Ravens spokesman Chad Steele said Martin told the team he was not cited.
■ Defensive back Willie Andrews of the New England Patriots was held without bail yesterday in Mansfield, Mass., after having alleged to have pointed a handgun at his girlfriend's head.
Andrews was arrested yesterday after the alleged incident that occurred at about 1 a.m. after he returned home and an argument began between him and his girlfriend, according to Gregg Miliote, director of communications for the Bristol County DA's office.
Andrews, a backup since being drafted by the Patriots in the last round in 2006, was charged with illegal possession of a large capacity firearm and assault with a dangerous weapon, Miliote said. He said Andrews was held without bail pending the results of a dangerousness hearing on Thursday.
In February, Andrews was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and driving an unregistered motor vehicle. In May, he admitted in court that there was enough evidence to convict him at trial but did not plead guilty.
■ Duke defensive end Justin Wilkerson plans to transfer.
New Blue Devils coach David Cutcliffe said yesterday that Wilkerson has left the program and plans to attend school elsewhere. Wilkerson was a 6-3, 230-pound true freshman last year who didn't see game action.
Wilkerson is from Oxford.
Basketball
■ Adrianne Shuler and Allison Nichols joined the women's basketball staff at East Carolina yesterday, Coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener announced. Shuler, a former head coach at Appalachian State, will be an ECU assistant, and Nichols, a former assistant at Augusta State, will be ECU's director of basketball operations.
Shuler, who played at Georgia in the early 1990s and then in the WNBA, spent seven seasons as an assistant at Furman, then coached Appalachian State for six seasons. She led ASU to its first winning season in 10 years in 2005-06. Nichols played at Bridgewater College, and then coached high-school basketball in Virginia before landing the jb at Augusta State.
■ Indiana University's president told the NCAA infractions committee that the hiring of ousted basketball coach Kelvin Sampson was "a risk that should not have been taken."
Indiana president Michael McRobbie told the committee during a private session on June 14 that Sampson had betrayed the school's trust in violating NCAA regulations on telephone calls to recruits. The text of McRobbie's statement was released yesterday by the university.
The NCAA has accused Sampson of providing false and misleading information to investigators about impermissible phone calls to recruits.
Sampson was under NCAA recruiting restrictions when IU hired him away from Oklahoma in 2006.
■ Alcorn State hired former Tennessee player Tonya Edwards as its women's basketball coach yesterday.
Edwards spent the past two seasons as an assistant at Detroit-Mercy.
Miscellaneous
■ Gardner-Webb became a full member of the Big South Conference at midnight after spending six years in the Atlantic Sun in all sports other than football, wrestling and swimming. The Bulldogs will be immediately eligible for postseason play and the Big South's automatic NCAA tournament berths in all sports.
WE WERE WRONG
■ A graphic published yesterday on Ernie Shore Stadium's Field of Stars incorrectly listed the team Dean Chance pitched for in 1967. Chance was with the Minnesota Twins that season.
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