For the second time in the span of a week, an elite high school basketball prospect has made headlines as the result of a incident of domestic violence.
On Saturday morning, Seton Hall commit and Baltimore native Aquille Carr was arrested for allegedly beating up his girlfriend, news which was broken by our very own Daniel Martin.
On Tuesday, it was Tony Farmer, a 6-foot-7 small forward that was 2nd-team all-state for Garfield Heights HS in Ohio, making news for all the wrong reasons. He was sentenced to three years in prison for kidnapping and assaulting an ex-girlfriend.
From the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. (UPDATE: Here’s video of Farmer collapsing in the court room while listening to the verdict, via @ hickeybuns33):Farmer was indicted by a grand jury on charges of kidnapping, felonious assault and robbery stemming from an altercation last April with his ex-girlfriend, Andrea Lane, in the lobby and parking lot of her apartment complex in Bedford Heights.
Much of the incident was caught on videotape inside the apartment building. Bhasker said that at one point, outside the building, Farmer dragged Lane by her hair.
Farmer was later charged with intimidation, as well, after he sent threatening phone and text messages to Lane.
The case gets complicated from there -- there is a way that Farmer’s sentence can be reduced to just 180 days or just probation -- but click the link and give the paper the pageviews if you want the details.
Farmer was a high-major recruit and had even spent some time in a couple of different top 100 lists. Xavier, Ohio State, Michigan State, West Virginia and Illinois were among the schools recruiting him. I think it’s safe to say that three years in the clink will scare off most of his suitors.
(Photo credit: CoachesAid.com)
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.
