If Davon Durant is to make an immediate impact at Arizona State, it appears he’ll have to crawl out of Todd Graham‘s doghouse first.
Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic is reporting that Durant is not with the team and has been indefinitely suspended by the football program. There was no initial explanation offered for the punitive measures, although he’s also not even listed on the team’s roster after enrolling early with the intent to participate in spring practice. That suggests this is a situation that is rather significant and could continue for some time.
And, based on online records, it is just that: Durant had an initial appearance in Maricopa County Superior Court March 8 on multiple charges -- one count of felony aggravated assault and three counts of misdemeanor disorderly conduct -- while a preliminary hearing is set for March 18. SunDevilSource.com reports that the charges are related to a domestic violence incident.
Subsequent to the initial reports, Haller gained additional details of what led to the charges:
Tempe police say Durant was arrested March 6 when officers were called to the scene after witnesses reported a man had struck a woman in a black SUV.
Durant told an officer that he was having a verbal argument with his girlfriend in the car. According to the report, Durant’s girlfriend told police that Durant hit her in the face once and grabbed her around the neck.
The responding officer reported that Durant’s girlfriend had visible injuries, including a bruise below her left eye and bruising around her neck that was consistent with finger marks.
This development could potentially prove painful to ASU on the field as, according to Haller, Durant was expected to take over as the starting Devilbacker in ASU’s defense. Just last month, Graham was singing the praises of Durant’s potential impact.
Coming out of Butler County Community College, Durant was a four-star member of the Sun Devils’ 2015 recruiting class. Durant, a South Carolina native, had actually been a verbal commitment to South Carolina during part of his time at the Kansas JUCO, but flipped his commitment to ASU in October three months after verballing to USC.
Even back then, Durant could sense he’d have a role immediately with the Sun Devils.
“They have a position called the Devil spot, which is kind of a hybrid that plays all the positions,” Durant told Rivals.com. “I’ll be pretty much be playing every spot they have. I’ll be all over the field and I love that.”
(Photo credit: Rivals.com)