Johnson C. Smith head football coach Kermit Blount is being investigated for not feeding a group of his players who showed up late to a team breakfast.
Sources said up to 20 players and several athletic trainers on the Division II program were denied a pre-game breakfast at it's hotel prior to the 1 p.m. kickoff.
The team was on the road against Virginia Union University on Saturday, Sept. 26. Sources said the coach's reasoning was because players were roughly five-minutes late to the 8:30 a.m. breakfast.
Reasons for being late varied from player-to-player.
Sources add some players had not eaten since dinner was served at 6 p.m. on Friday and were not served a full meal until 5 p.m., Saturday. We're told granola bars and oranges were, however, handed out during halftime.
After being told to leave the room where breakfast was being served, a handful of players walked a half mile down the street for fast food -- but a number of players said they did not have money to eat and consistently rely on meals provided by the University during road trips, according to sources.
One of the athletic trainers denied a meal is six-months pregnant.
"That speaks for itself," J.C.S.U. kicker Erik Amaya said. "Not getting food....that's the essence of getting through the day."
Johnson C. Smith lost the game 33-3.
"I can go back and say it was because we didn't have any food in our system," Amaya said.
University officials are investigating.
"The University takes very seriously the health and well-being of out student athletes," Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing Emiene Wright said. "The Athletics Department is currently investigating these allegations to determine what happened and is taking steps to ensure proper procedure is understood and followed."
The 57-year-old Blount is in his first season as head coach at J.C.S.U. He previously coached at Delaware State and Winston-Salem State.
http://www.fox46charlotte.com/news/local-news/27034656-story
Sources said up to 20 players and several athletic trainers on the Division II program were denied a pre-game breakfast at it's hotel prior to the 1 p.m. kickoff.
The team was on the road against Virginia Union University on Saturday, Sept. 26. Sources said the coach's reasoning was because players were roughly five-minutes late to the 8:30 a.m. breakfast.
Reasons for being late varied from player-to-player.
Sources add some players had not eaten since dinner was served at 6 p.m. on Friday and were not served a full meal until 5 p.m., Saturday. We're told granola bars and oranges were, however, handed out during halftime.
After being told to leave the room where breakfast was being served, a handful of players walked a half mile down the street for fast food -- but a number of players said they did not have money to eat and consistently rely on meals provided by the University during road trips, according to sources.
One of the athletic trainers denied a meal is six-months pregnant.
"That speaks for itself," J.C.S.U. kicker Erik Amaya said. "Not getting food....that's the essence of getting through the day."
Johnson C. Smith lost the game 33-3.
"I can go back and say it was because we didn't have any food in our system," Amaya said.
University officials are investigating.
"The University takes very seriously the health and well-being of out student athletes," Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing Emiene Wright said. "The Athletics Department is currently investigating these allegations to determine what happened and is taking steps to ensure proper procedure is understood and followed."
The 57-year-old Blount is in his first season as head coach at J.C.S.U. He previously coached at Delaware State and Winston-Salem State.
http://www.fox46charlotte.com/news/local-news/27034656-story
