WKU Football: Six Players Indicted & Suspended Indefinitely
News broke Thursday afternoon that six current WKU football players and one former player have been indicted for various crimes stemming from a March incident at the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity house. Here is a rundown of the charges.
- RB Quinton Baker (SO.)- Complicity to wanton endangerment, first degree; complicity to assault; fourth degree; and criminal trespassing, third degree
- WR Xavier Lane (RS FR)- Complicity to wanton endangerment, first degree; complicity to assault; fourth degree; and criminal trespassing, third degree
- LB Tyler Obee (RS FR)- Complicity to wanton endangerment, first degree; complicity to assault; fourth degree; and criminal trespassing, third degree
- DL Cecil Stallings (RS FR)- Complicity to wanton endangerment, first degree; complicity to assault; fourth degree; and criminal trespassing, third degree
- WR Jachour Pearson (FR)- criminal trespassing, third degree
- DT Chris Johnson (SR)- criminal trespassing, third degree
- Former LB Drew O’Bryan was charged with menacing, and criminal trespassing, third degree. He transferred to EKU and this incident may explain his departure.
Regardless of the events that led to the incident, the seven players are at the very least guilty of terrible judgement. The indictments today showed they could be guilty of much more. The offseason is a worry for every fan base across the country and can often lead to bad headlines and judgement.
At the time of the incident, Coach Sanford and WKU were criticized for not taking immediate action (rightfully so) against the players involved. When the news came out today, he partially remedied that as he suspended the six current players indefinitely. We should let the legal situation play out as the charges against the 1st four players are very serious.
Complicity to wanton endangerment is a class D felony (possibly one year or more in prison). The other charges are misdemeanors that still carry fines and possible light jail time as well. It goes without saying that the entire fan base should be worried about the incident and should hope that Coach Sanford is making a concerted effort to establish leadership & accountability (with coaches and players) moving forward.
Quinton Baker has had trouble with the law before since joining the program and this incident may lead to dismissal or a long suspension. He had a promising Freshman year rushing for 542 yards and four touchdowns and was considered to be the possible successor to Ace Wales. Whatever happens, let’s hope he cleans up his life and doesn’t waste his talent with more bad decisions. Running back depth can still be OK with DeAndre Ferby & potentially Leon Allen coming back from injury and Marquez Trigg gaining experience last year.
Chris Johnson is a starting defensive tackle for the Tops. The JuCo transfer from Mississippi is seen as a defensive leader and was All-Conference USA honorable mention last season with 43 stops and 12.5 tackles for loss. Being charged with a misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge, I see him maybe getting a small suspension (especially with EKU being the first game on the schedule).
WR Xavier Lane & DL Cecil Stalling were both redshirted last season. They were both 3-star recruits for WKU and chose the Tops over some Power 5 programs. Players like these two not seeing the field could have large repercussions for WKU as three star players often are the difference makers that separate programs like WKU from the rest of the conference.
Pearson grayshirted last season and only arrived on campus in January. He performed well during spring practice and both he and Lane were looked at as potential play makers to replace Taywan Taylor and Nicholas Norris.
Obee is a walk-on LB and son of WKU sideline reporter Terry Obee and I had never heard of him before the news broke today.
As with everything we should let the cake bake and see what happens. Both sides of the story will come out (the Pike’s, particularly the alumni that leaked the video to TMZ & pursued the charges don’t appear completely innocent in this incident), there will be preliminary hearings, potential trials and more news to come. Some of these indictments will get pled down to lesser charges & possible suspensions and dismissals may occur. This was a bad look for the players involved and Football program in general.
Let’s hope that the coaches, players and program learn from this incident and not let it slow down the upward trajectory that we’ve experienced since 2011.
