TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - On Thursday night, Charleston Southern football players tweeted and wrote on Facebook that around 30 athletes on their team would be suspended for Saturday's contest with Florida State due to using book money on things other than books in the CSU bookstore.
On Friday, CSU head football coach Jamey Chadwell confirmed that 14 of his players would serve their suspension against the Seminoles on Saturday.
Charleston Southern self-reported the incident to the NCAA last week. Chadwell will take his suspension against Albany State. An assistant coach will serve his suspension against Florida State.
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"We've been doing books before I got here this way for over 15 years," said athletic director Hank Small. "This is the way we've worked it through the powers that be across campus. We just found out about it through the normal compliance review of the things that we look it. I certainly didn't realize this was falling through the cracks that way at all or we wouldn't have done it."
Small went on to say that the school is working every day late into the night to make sure every athlete is eligible. He also stated that the kids will not be out long, and that the decision to suspend players and coaches was reached based on recommendations from paid consultants, the NCAA, and the Big South Conference.
Chadwell has referred to his available players as a "MASH Unit," as CSU's top two quarterbacks as well as their top running back are injured and will not play Saturday. He confirmed that all athletes that are set to sit out Saturday are top players on the football team.
Another possible date for the athletes to serve their suspension is September 24th when Charleston Southern faces Monmouth.
