Hamline coach suspended in assault case

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ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Hamline University men's basketball Coach Nelson Whitmore was suspended and 14 students were disciplined after an alleged assault, the Minnesota school said.

The school lowered the boom this week after a Hamline player was arrested for allegedly hitting a woman at the team's hotel in Spokane, Wash., on New Year's Eve.

Hamline forfeited Saturday's game against Gustavus Adolphus as a result of the incident.

"This is an extraordinarily serious incident and we are treating it as such," the school said in a written statement. "We hold our players to the highest standards as students, athletes, and citizens."

Eugene Lawrence, 18, of New Orleans, was kicked off the team after being released on bail in Spokane, where he was charged with second-degree assault. Lawrence allegedly broke a 20-year-old woman's jaw at the team's hotel.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press said the alleged victim, Kayla Bray, was acquainted with another Hamline player and got into a verbal altercation with Lawrence.

The newspaper said Whitmore was suspended indefinitely after a "thorough external investigation and internal review."

Details on Whitmore's role in the incident were not revealed.