Louisville twins charged in savage practice assault against teammate
If you somehow missed the dismissal of twin freshmen Jacob and Isaac Geffrad from Louisville last October, well, join the club. By Halloween most Louisville fans were probably too engrossed in the upcoming basketball season their own selves to notice the departure of a pair of backup safeties. The sudden absence of reserve defensive lineman Patrick Grant from the lineup probably didn't raise many eyebrows in the 'Ville, either, considering he'd barely seen the lineup over the first half of the season.
No, it wasn't until this week, three months after the fact, that someone in the local media got around to looking up a criminal complaint filed a couple weeks after the Geffrads were booted, where he discovered the reason for their departure and Grant's: The twins allegedly ganged up on their teammate in the locker room after practice on Oct. 24 and beat him so severely that he nearly lost sight in one eye. From the Louisville Courier-Journal:
According the criminal complaint, the brothers, who were redshirt freshmen with the team in 2010, allegedly attacked fellow student Patrick Grant in the locker room at Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium after practice.
Grant sustained several injuries including a broken nose and a fracture to his eye socket, according to the complaint. He had to be taken to the hospital for treatment.
The complaint says Grant has had two surgeries to save the sight in his left eye and repair the bone structure around the eye.
The complaint didn't shed any light on the motivation for the Geffrads' attack, but they were given a swift boot by coach Charlie Strong and later charged with one count apiece of first-degree assault – which could involve use of "a deadly weapon" or "wantonly engag[ing] in conduct which creates a grave risk of death" – a Class B felony in Kentucky that could carry significant jail time with a conviction. It should go without saying (but never does) that all accused are entitled to a fair trial and are innocent until proven guilty, etc. The brothers are due in court next week.
For his part, Grant is still listed on Louisville's roster and hopefully on his way to making a full recovery. He has one year of eligibility remaining as a possible fifth-year senior, and with any justice will be able to see it through.
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Hat tip: CFT.
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
