NEW YORK -- Four players at St. Francis College in Brooklyn have been suspended for violations of the school's code of conduct.
Sophomore guard Anthony White, one of the four suspended players, was arrested last week after allegedly attacking and choking his girlfriend, according to multiple media reports. A New York Police Department spokesperson confirmed Friday that an Anthony White, age 19, was arrested at 12:55 a.m. on Feb. 4 in the 84th precinct (Brooklyn) and charged with criminal mischief and criminal obstruction of breathing.
The spokesperson described the situation as "a verbal dispute that obviously turned physical," but would provide no further details. White is due back in court March 24.
"There is an investigation underway on this matter, and we can't have any further comment on this matter until the investigation is over," said George Arzt, a spokesperson for St. Francis College.
Arzt did confirm that investigations are being done by both the school and law enforcement.
White and three other players -- freshman forward Wayne Martin and junior guards Brent Jones and P.J. Santavenere -- did not play in the team's last game, a loss to Robert Morris on Feb. 8. It remains to be seen if and when they will play for St. Francis again.
Martin is the team's fourth-leading scorer (7.5 points a game) and second-leading rebounder (5.3). Jones is fifth in scoring (6.9) and leads the team in assists (5.5 a game). White averages 5.8 points and 3.7 rebounds. Santavenere is a little-used reserve.
St. Francis is having a good season by its standards. The Terriers are 15-10 overall and 6-4 in the Northeast Conference, tied for third place. They gave unbeaten and No. 1 Syracuse a scare Nov. 18 at the Carrier Dome, leading for most of the second half before losing 56-50.
St. Francis is one of just five original Division I programs to never make the NCAA tournament.