Fresno St. Program In Reruns Players Arrested Day After ‘60 Minutes’ Report

Fresno State center Avondre Jones was kicked off the team Tuesday after he and a top recruit were arrested and accused of pointing handguns at a man and poking him with samurai swords.

The arrest of Jones and Kenny Brunner came hours after the Bulldogs beat Memphis in the NIT on Monday night and a day after Fresno State officials slammed CBS-TV’s “60 Minutes” for focusing on the legal and drug troubles of the school’s athletes.

“I was devastated to hear this,” coach Jerry Tarkanian said in a statement. “I couldn’t even enjoy one night after a big victory.”

Besides kicking Jones off the team, Tarkanian suspended Brunner indefinitely.

Jones and Brunner were booked for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon and grand theft. They were released on their own recognizance pending a court hearing, Fresno County Sheriff Steve Magarian said.

Jones denied the allegations.

“I’m not guilty, I’m not guilty,” Jones told a KJEO-TV reporter. “I got in a situation hanging with the wrong people.”

Police said the players and Colin DeForrest were drinking at Jones’ apartment when an argument broke out over a TV program.

“Jones allegedly produced two handguns and pointed them at the victim,” Chief Ed Winchester said. “Jones and Brunner then picked up two large swords and began beating and poking the victim.”

DeForrest, 23, initially thought the players were joking, but he quickly became concerned when they pulled out “what were described as samurai swords,” Lt. Jerry Davis said.

When DeForrest tried to leave the apartment, Jones grabbed his backpack and stole $230 in cash and a $500 camera, Winchester said.

DeForrest left and later called police, Davis said. DeForrest, described as an acquaintance, suffered minor abrasions and scratches but didn’t need medical attention.

On Monday night, Jones played in the Bulldogs’ last-second 83-80 victory over Memphis. Fresno State’s next game is Thursday night against Hawaii.

Brunner recently was recruited after leaving Georgetown and was eligible to play in the middle of next season.

Jones was suspended earlier this season for violating school rules. He is among eight scholarship players who have missed games because they were suspended, ineligible, in rehab or quit the team - incidents that “60 Minutes” focused on Sunday night.

Only two scholarship players - Larry Abney and Demetrius Porter - have been eligible for every game.

“Avondre was playing under strict conditions, required by a Code of Conduct panel,” Tarkanian said. “There is no excuse for behavior like this, and I will not tolerate a few individuals continuing to give black eyes to our program and our university.”

Tarkanian felt the “60 Minutes” report Sunday night was unfair, and President John Welty was angry because it didn’t say that Fresno State has one of the nation’s strictest student conduct codes.

But the Fresno Bee said in an editorial Tuesday that “it is time to stop making excuses for these players and demand that they be held accountable for their behavior.”

“The worst of it all, perhaps, is that the behavior of the team members and the coach gives subtle sanction to poor character, poor self-discipline and criminal behavior in the minds of our community’s children,” the newspaper said.

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