Kentucky football: Resolution reached in case against six players

Six Kentucky football players have been away from the team since fall camp due to a legal matter. The six players were charged with burglary in late August after there was an altercation at a frat party near Kentucky’s campus. A grand jury on Tuesday decided not to indict the six players, per Kentucky.com.

“A grand jury on Tuesday decided not to indict on burglary charges six players — RJ Adams, JuTahn McClain, Andru Phillips, Earnest Sanders, Vito Tisdale and Joel Williams — who were originally charged in late August. The grand jury also decided not to indict on a wanton endangerment charge that was filed against Tisdale.”

The incident occurred in March, although charges were not filed until late August. Kentucky’s Office of Student Conduct cleared all players form any wrongdoing in June.

The players pleaded not guilty in court to the charges. On Monday, the players were cleared to return to practice.

The players reportedly encountered racial slurs at the party

Earlier in September, WKYT obtained documents with more information on the incident. The documents include a letter from an unnamed player that was involved in the case. The player’s name is redacted, but he claims that the players encountered racial slurs and just tried to get out of the house.

“I completely and undoubtedly deny any allegations that I threatened, harmed or caused any harm to anyone at this party that night,” a football player whose name was redacted wrote in a letter dated April 20 and sent to UK’s student responsibility coordinator. “I was the victim of a ‘hate crime’ that I will be following up and filing charges with the city of Lexington soon.

“This was a very traumatic experience for me, something I never had to endure in my lifetime,” the letter reads. “All I could think about is my life and getting out of that house.”

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops spoke in August of the situation. He said that he appreciates the university’s thorough investigation. While the charges have now been dropped, Stoops acknowledged the significant time that the Kentucky players have missed.

“I appreciate the university and the way they went through a thorough investigation and cleared our players and the way they went about it and gave them a fair process. I greatly appreciate them,” Stoops said. “If I had any evidence whatsoever that our players are doing something that needs to be addressed, we have no problem with addressing that and disciplining our players. We’ll continue to evaluate that process and see how it plays out.

“We have been patient. Our players have been patient and you have to trust the system; that gets hard. Our players have been out a long time. They missed probably 13, 14 weeks (now 18 weeks) of time on the field right now with this situation. I have to believe in this system.”

Now that the charges have been dropped, the six players could return to the field in Kentucky at some point. The players have missed significant time due to the matter, but they are now clear to return to the team.