Michigan State suspends eight football players

The aftermath of the dormitory altercation involving football players continues to turn uglier for Michigan State.

Coach Mark Dantonio suspended eight players Tuesday - including key contributors B.J. Cunningham, Mark Dell and Chris L. Rucker - because of the incident. And campus police said they still were trying to identify five more suspects who were at the scene.

Freep.com Drew Sharp column Coach Dantonio should dismiss all players involved

All of this comes days before the Spartans (6-6) receive their third straight invitation to a bowl, which hasn't happened since the late 1990s. The Spartans will learn their destination no later than Sunday.

On the night of Nov. 22, about 90 minutes after MSU's season-ending banquet, witnesses reported that 15 to 20 men stormed into an Iota Phi Theta fraternity potluck dinner in a lounge at Rather Hall. Witnesses told police that some of the men assaulted and injured some of the attendees.

Last week, Dantonio dismissed sophomore running back Glenn Winston and junior safety Roderick Jenrette from the team for violating team rules. A news release Tuesday from MSU referred to them as "suspects" and said they were at the scene of the altercation.

The same release announced that Dantonio had suspended eight more "suspects" this week. No details were provided about the levels of the 10 players' involvement.

The release said police expected to finish their investigation this week and turn over their findings to Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III early next week.

The suspended players are wide receivers Cunningham, Dell and Fred Smith, cornerback Rucker, running back Ashton Leggett, linebacker/safety Brynden Trawick, defensive tackle Ishmyl Johnson and defensive end Jamiihr Williams.

According to the release, "the 10 suspects were identified following interviews with victims, witnesses and a review of on-site video. The evidence regarding the actions of all suspects is still being collected."

MSU Athletic Director Mark Hollis, who was in Chapel Hill, N.C., for the men's basketball game said: "Obviously the whole situation is a disappointment to me as an alumnus and as an athletic director. I think today we made a swift decision based upon the information we had available to us. We've been real cooperative with the police, real cooperative with the prosecutor's office. And what you read today is a culmination of gathering that information and making a decision."

It is unknown what charges, if any, players could face or whether they still could play in the bowl game. In the past, players who have been suspended - such as Winston for a 2008 assault - have not traveled with the team.

Southfield attorney Vanessa Moss-Wilson, who is representing MSU junior Brent Mitchell, a potluck attendee who said he was injured in the altercation, said she was pleased that the school appeared to be "taking the matter seriously."

"We stick by the statement that there were 15-20 members of the football team involved," she said. "Of that number, there were three that we could not identify because they were wearing ski masks."

Terry Denbow, vice president for university relations, declined to specify which team rules had been violated. The players have not been suspended from the university itself.

MSU officials have been reluctant to talk about the incident in the days since it occurred.

Asked about the impact of the incident on the reputation of MSU's football program, Denbow said, "Generalizing, stereotyping or instant analyses in situations like this are really detrimental to an understanding of the total program."

But, among fans, there was no shortage of instant analysis.

"We should expect more out of our players," said Dave Rowland, an MSU senior. "I'm not happy about how this is going to affect us in a bowl game, but you can't let them get away with it either, as long as it's understood that (police) have good evidence."

Lansing State Journal reporters Matt Miller and Joe Rexrode also contributed to this report.