Seven Jackson State Players Are Arrested

Seven Jackson State basketball players and another male student were arrested Tuesday and charged with sexual battery and rape.

The university had suspended several players on Monday after a female student filed a formal complaint last week.

Sophomore guard Damien Smith and Cedric Gilbert are charged with sexual battery and rape and were being held at the Hinds County (Miss.) jail on $100,000 bond.

Gilbert, 22, is not a member of the basketball team, according to the school’s athletic department.

Senior forwards Richard Bradley and Brian Nichols and junior guard Robin Lucas were charged with sexual battery and were being held on $50,000 bond.

Bradley led the team in scoring and rebounding last season and Nichols started 18 games.

Freshman guard Jerome Bracy and sophomore guards Reginald Taylor and John Chandler are charged with rape and were being held on $50,000 bond.

Chandler started nine games last season.

The Jackson State athletic office referred all questions to the school’s public relations department.

Public relations director Jean Frazier said the players arrested would remain on suspension pending the outcome of the case. She said the university had no further comment.

“We don’t want to taint the process,” she said. “We want the case to have its full merits by being played out in the courts.”

Jackson State opens the regular season Saturday at Southern Mississippi.

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Two players from Oregon State, one from Washington and another from Eastern Washington have been suspended one game each for participating in an unsanctioned tournament last spring.

Oregon State declared forward Philip Ricci and guard Jimmie Haywood ineligible for the Beavers’ opener Saturday against Northern Colorado.

Washington forward Doug Wrenn will miss the Huskies’ first game at the eight-team Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Huskies play the host school Thursday.

Eastern Washington guard Alvin Snow will miss Thursday’s opener against No. 10 St. Joseph’s in the BCA Classic in Berkeley.

The players took part in the Emerald City All-Star Tournament last May, held at Seattle’s Rainier Beach High. The NCAA prohibits players from participating in tournaments or all-star games not sanctioned by the governing body.

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Sophomore forward Alvin Broussard is leaving the New Mexico program because he isn’t getting enough playing time.

“He didn’t think he could handle being a role player,” Coach Fran Fraschilla said Monday.

Broussard averaged 9.3 minutes, 1.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in 34 games as a freshman.