Devine, three other WVU players plead no contest in fight

By Darrell Laurant  |   Friday, March 14, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

West Virginia Mountaineers
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The other shoe finally dropped Friday for West Virginia running back Noel Devine and three of his Mountaineer teammates, but it turned out to be more of a soft slipper than a hob-nailed boot.

For several weeks, it was an open secret that Devine had been among the WVU players involved in a February fracas with some other students outside a Morgantown bar called Club Z. On Thursday, he, running back/wide receiver Jock Sanders and defensive backs Eian Smitrh and Brantwon Bowser were finally arrested. On Friday, they pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of battery.

In legal terms, that charge translates into "Boys will be boys." The Associated Press was unable to find out, as of Friday evening, if any punishment was actually meted out by the municipal court judge.

As for head coach Bill Stewart, who has already had to kick three other players off the squad for being busted for a large quantity of marijuana, Friday's verdict (or non verdict) had to be both a relief and an embarrassment.

"Discipline with the situation has already been handled within the program," Stewart said.

Devine is expected to start at tailback with the departure of Steve Slaton, Sanders is potentially a useful cog in the Mountaineer spread offense, Bowser -- a transfer from Phoenix College -- may wind up starting at safety, and Smith is a redshirt sophomore.

Here's an idea: Maybe every school with a Division 1-A football program should erect a bar on campus that only football players can patronize. That way, any fights would be among themselves -- and they wouldn't have to drive home.
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