ASU RB suspected of murder

[JonInMiddleGA]

http://sports.myway.com/news/03262005/v0387.html

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Arizona State running back Loren Wade was arrested Saturday on suspicion of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a former ASU football player.

Police said Brandon Falkner, 25, of Tempe was shot in the head about 2:30 a.m. Saturday as he sat in his car outside Club CBNC, a Scottsdale nightspot.

Scottsdale police detective Sam Bailey said Falkner and Wade exchanged words before the shot was fired.

Wade was driving a car with three others inside when he went to the club to pick up his girlfriend, Haley van Blommestein, who played soccer at Arizona State until 2003.

Bailey said Wade saw her standing next to Falkner's car, got out of his car, exchanged words with Falkner and fired once.

Falkner tried to drive away, but crashed into another car, then hit a tree. He was pronounced dead at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn.

"From everything I've heard, they didn't know each other," Bailey said. "He may have been in the wrong place, at the wrong time, talking to the wrong person."

Wade was arrested by Maricopa County sheriff's deputies who were working as security guards at the club.

"We have more than enough witnesses," Bailey said.

Football coach Dirk Koetter canceled the team's first spring practice in pads on Saturday.

"This is a tragedy that has shocked and saddened our entire community," university president Michael Crow said. "ASU has made its counseling services available this weekend to the entire football team and to any other student who feels that he or she needs to talk about this situation."

Practice had been under way about 30 minutes when Koetter learned why Wade was missing. He called the players together, told them what happened and dismissed the team.

"I think shock is the best word," he said about their reaction.

"Our next scheduled practice is Monday," Koetter said. "We're going to have a team meeting at 7 o'clock where we can touch base with the players and, again, have a crisis team on hand. There's going to be new developments, obviously, between now and Monday.

"Everything moving forward on our spring practice is up in the air at this point, because there's not a precedent here."

Smith equated the slaying to a death in the family.

"You're trying to get somewhere I'm not at emotionally," he said about questions on screening recruited athletes. "I'm not there to sit back and reflect and say, 'OK, we're going to do this in the future.' We're just dealing with this, and we have feelings."

Falkner, a defensive back, was a three-year letterman who saw action in 26 games for the Sun Devils from 1999 to 2001.

Wade, 21, from Los Angeles, started the first three games for Arizona State as a sophomore last season, then was suspended for the remainder of the schedule while the school investigated whether he received improper benefits from a university employee.

The university found that an assistant in the school's compliance and recruitment department put her name on a line of credit to pay an overdue utility bill for Wade. The compliance officer was fired.

Wade was cleared to return to the team and participated in all three non-pads practices last week. Koetter arrived at practice Saturday morning knowing that Wade was in trouble but not having full details.

As a redshirt freshman in 2003, Wade broke the school freshman rushing record and finished fifth in the Pac-10 with 773 yards and an average of 5.7 yards per carry.

[MrBug708]

ASU football is slowly turning into Baylor BB

[Arles]

Yeah, ASU kicked off another RB during the season that ended up going to Northern Iowa and trying to pick a fight with uniformed cops

Their AD just left and they better bring someone in that can clean that place up.

[SunDevil]

I knew Brandon, he was a nice guy. God bless his family and RIP Brandon.

[Franklinnoble]

Sheesh. ASU really needs to get its athletic department in order. This is embarassing.

[SunDevil]

Yep, they fired/released their A.D. just a month or two ago as well.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by SunDevil

Yep, they fired/released their A.D. just a month or two ago as well.

Actually, he left to go to Ohio State for like 3X the money. There's was a new development in this story as well:

hxxp://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0329bickley0329.html

Here is Koetter's side of the story. Believe at your own risk.

He said his involvement began when he got a call on Sunday, March 6, from ASU soccer coach Ray Leone.

"He told me there were problems between Wade and Haley (van Blommestein), and that she was afraid of him and that he might have a gun," Koetter said. "I told Ray that if any of his girls had any concerns whatsoever, they should call the police immediately."

Koetter claims he immediately began his own search for Wade. He called his mother, Patsy, in Los Angeles. He asked if everything was OK. He asked if there were any problems in his relationship with van Blommestein. He asked if Wade had a gun. He claims Wade's mother said no on all accounts.

"Two hours later, Loren calls back," Koetter said. "He's crying his eyes out. He said he was breaking up with Haley right then. I asked him to put Haley on the phone. I said, 'Haley, this is Coach Koetter, just answer yes or no. Are you in any in danger right now?' She said, 'No.'

"I said 'Do you feel threatened by Loren right now?' She said, 'No.' I said, 'Does he have a gun right now? She said, 'No.' I said, 'Have you ever seen Loren with a gun?' She said, 'No.'

"Then I asked her why her friends on the team were saying that he did and that she was afraid. She said that Loren and her were fighting, that her friends jumped to conclusions, that nothing happened."

According to Koetter, Wade came into his office the next morning, as requested. Koetter gave him "the speech" about not wasting his second chance with the Arizona State football team, and Wade seemed very receptive. Five days later, the ASU coach left for a vacation to Mexico. He claims he never told any of this to Smith, his immediate supervisor.

Per terms of his contract, Koetter only has to tell the athletic director of a situation if a law has been broken.

"I usually tell Gene everything," Koetter said. "But this was at the same time that Gene was going to Ohio State, and I just didn't tell him. I didn't think it was an issue."

It also seems that now Wade threatened a girl on the gymnastics team back in November and that Wade, AD Gene Smith, the girl and the gymn coach all sat together and Wade apologized.

So, we have two prior instances in the past 5 months were Wade threatened women (by some accounts, with a gun) prior to him shooting this other kid. This could start mushrooming into another "Baylor-type" story if more of this comes out.