Rayshawn Goins, leading scorer for James Madison University Dukes Basketball team, has been suspended and will sit out the first half of the NCAA tournament game Wednesday against Long Island University after his arrest on Sunday night.
The university suspended him in accordance with JMU policy.
The Harrisonburg Police Department arrested Goins for the obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct.
Goins, a 6-foot-6 redshirt senior forward, averages 12.7 points and 7.4 rebounds this season. His team, the Dukes won the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament to reach the NCAAs for the first time since 1994.
His arrest followed an incident Sunday morning, when police received a call from a large party, mainly attended by JMU students that went out of control at an apartment building.
When officers arrived at the location, they asked around 200 people to leave the party.
Goins began yelling obscenities at the officers and inciting the crowd. He was told to leave several times by the officers and eventually was taken away by friends.
Because of his popularity, the police did not arrest him at the scene as the crowd would have turned violent.
He was later arrested by the police and released on a $2,500 unsecured bond after co-operating with the police. Goins' first court hearing has been scheduled on April 8 in the general district court.
Coach Brady told WHSV that Goins' arrest has disappointed the team. "We are upset about it. We've talked about it. Ray knows how disappointed we are in his decision but we're gonna move on,"
Due to Goins' suspension for the first half of the game, other players will get a chance to play in the match.
The student athlete handbook policy for JMU states that if an athlete faces criminal or misbehaviour charges by a police officer, he or she will be suspended or terminated until the student is cleared of charges.
In addition, the coaches can also give the athletes more severe penalties.
