Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz did not know two of his players were facing felony charges until last Saturday night.
Ferentz suspended sophomore receivers Dominique Douglas and Anthony Bowman after they were charged with unauthorized use of a credit card.
Ferentz says he learned on the way out to practice that both players were being requested to visit with police, but says he didn’t speak to the investigating officer until that evening.
Both players will be on campus Monday for the start of classes and Ferentz says a final decision on their future with the program won’t be made until their case is settled. Ferentz says every parent wants to believe his son, and says he feels that way about his players, but says he realizes that charges are not pulled out of mid air. Ferentz says he will stay out of it and let the legal process take its course and then deal with it at the appropriate time.
In addition to their arrests, pictures have been publicized of both players holding wads of cash and empty liquor bottles on Facebook.com. Iowa athletic director Gary Barta called the pictures “embarrassing” but says there are no plans to ban Hawkeye athletes from the internet site. Barta says it has been tried at some institutions and that did not go over well. He says their approach is to tell students what they expect and then deal with any inappropriate action.
Barta says the university will not ban players from the sites. A and he says there is no way to constantly monitor player’s sites. He says “we can’t legislate morality.” Barta says they can tell the students and coaches what they expect and try to bring in people they believe can live up to the expectations. Barta says it would be impossible to try and monitor the sites 24-hours a day. Iowa opens next Saturday in Chicago against Northern Illinois.