Approximately 30 Charleston Southern football players will serve suspensions, according to a Facebook post by senior running back Ben Robinson.
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The school reported violations for improper use of book money on non-book items at the campus bookstore. Two players have yet to serve their suspensions, and a Charleston Southern spokesman said the school is working with the NCAA to decide which game the final two will miss.
The school said left-over book money can only be used for school supplies. It’s unclear, however, whether there will be an additional fine on top of that amount.
Charleston Southern and the NCAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“CSU Football has been dealing with a witch hunt the first 3 weeks”, Senior receiver Colton Korn wrote on his Facebook page. The Buccaneers are 37.5-point underdogs as an FCS program, but the hard task of taking on the Seminoles might now be impossible as multiple Charleston Southern players announced late Thursday that half the team has been suspended for the game.
A total of 31 Charleston Southern players will end up serving one-game suspensions for NCAA violations. “Other items can not be covered by that financial aid”, the school said in its statement.
Florida State’s Davin Cook tries to squeeze the ball past the pylon for a touchdown as Charleston Southern’s Larenzo Mathis defends in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, in Tallahassee, Fla. It is a tough decision, especially for any player, like Robinson, who is from Tallahassee or nearby.
Junior offensive lineman Frank Cirone posted on Facebook that the entire starting line will not play.
“As for me, a guy who has been blessed to start 36 games, attend as many athletic and school events as time would allow, do countless hours of community service wearing CSU clothes, I’m bewildered at the lack of respect the University is showing us athletes and student body as a whole”. Due to NCAA rules violation, the Buccaneers could have a severely diminished roster for the game. “That’s typically how we were going to start and we got off to a fast start”. He also had harsh words for Charleston Southern, saying the suspensions were avoidable had the school taken the proper steps to ensure the players were informed. It’s unfortunate because I think it puts some focus on some other things instead of just the good things that our team’s doing and our university’s done for us.
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN: The Buccaneers, who were the preseason pick to win the Big South, open conference play on September 24 at Monmouth.
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The game was an opportunity for the Seminoles to work on a lot, and get valuable game-time reps to the FSU backups.
