Two years ago, Louisville defensive lineman Patrick Grant was the victim of an alleged assault at the hands of two former teammates: twins Jacob and Isaac Geffrad. The incident is said to have happened in October, 2010, but the Geffrad brothers were not charged until January, 2011. They were, however, removed from the team.
That alleged assault, coupled with an accusation that Cardinals coach Charlie Strong wrongly cancelled Grant’s scholarship, is the basis for a lawsuit filed by Grant against the University of Louisville. WDRB in Louisville has the story, which you can read HERE.
“His injuries to his left eye area were severe,” the lawsuit states about Grant’s condition after the alleged attack. “Several of the bones surrounding it were broken and he was internally bruised. In other words, Patrick had sustained a ‘blowout fracture’ caused by a blunt trauma to the head. These are generally caused from personal altercations. His eye was bulging too. His treating physician was required to probe around the eyeball without any anesthesia in order to determine the extent of Patrick’s injuries.”
As a result, Grant gave up football after suffering complications from a hit he took after returning to the game. Grant also claims he was asked by a team trainer to cover up the specifics of the incident. The suit states that Strong later promised Grant that his 2011-12 athletic scholarship would be awarded as he continued his studies.
Then, the scholarship was supposedly canceled on Jan. 4, 2012. When Grant complained to Strong, the coach allegedly “ended the call and hung up the phone.”
As the Bylaw Blog writes, “Mid-year cancellations must be for specific reasons in the NCAA bylaws or for violating a term of the scholarship agreement. Any cancellation or non-renewal requires the student-athlete to be provided written notice from the financial aid office and a hearing opportunity.”
If Strong did in fact cancel Grant’s scholarship mid-year without proper notice or reason, he could have violated NCAA rules. Louisville hasn’t commented on the matter yet and many details of this situation aren’t clear, so it will be interesting to see what, if anything, arises from this case moving forward. It’s certainly a nasty allegation against Strong and UL right now, especially considering Strong just reaffirmed his commitment to the program instead of leaving for Tennessee.
Louisville is currently preparing for the Sugar Bowl against Florida.