University of Kentucky players involved in fraternity fight return to practice

Following their temporary suspension while under investigation, all six University of Kentucky players involved in a fraternity fight have been cleared. LEX18’s Anna Maria Tarullo reported the good news for Kentucky fans, stating that all six players are able to return to practice.

Kentucky players involved in fraternity fight cleared

The six Kentucky football players all faced first-degree burglary charges stemming from an incident at an off-campus fraternity party in March.

“UPDATE: All six UK football players involved in the fight have returned to practice per a source,” reported Tarullo on Monday.

Though the incident occurred in March, charges weren’t filed until August 19. The UK Office of Student Conduct cleared all six players from any wrongdoing in June. All six were charged with first-degree burglary charges, with Vito Tisdale also charged with wanton endangerment for allegedly brandishing a firearm.

The players plead not guilty to the burglary charges and waived their right to a preliminary hearing in Fayette District Court. The case was then sent to a grand jury.

Documents were obtained earlier this month from the university that included a letter from one of the players to the UK Office of Student Conduct. The player, whose name is redacted, claims that he and his teammate faced racial slurs at the party and feared for their lives.

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

In the letter, the person describes a young lady screaming “get these fu[redacted] N[redacted] out of here,” with more than a dozen other guys coming up to them, pushing them and calling them “black a[redacted] N[redacted]”, “P[redacted] a[redacted] N[redacted]” and more.

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

Missing time during investigation

In its final report, the UK Office of Student Conduct Hearing Board agreed that the use of racial slurs played a “significant role” in the events at the party and caused the escalation of the fight.

In a press conference on Aug. 30, head coach Mark Stoops said that he “[had] to believe in this [legal] system” and “greatly appreciate[s]” the university’s “thorough investigation” that resulted in the clearing of his six players.

“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,” he 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.”

On3’s Jack Pilgrim contributed to this article.