Ohio University Suspends Four Players

ATHENS, Ohio -- Four Ohio University student-athletes were suspended indefinitely Monday after arrests on charges that include assault and drunken driving, the school said.

The suspensions of three football players and a basketball player came a day after a newspaper reported that 17 football players have been arrested this year and have faced no discipline from the school.

Football players Tommy Stuck, Paul Johnson and Wesley Dunlap and basketball player Ken Ottrix will not be allowed to practice or compete in games during the suspension, the school said.

President Roderick McDavis and athletics director Kirby Hocutt also said they will review school policy covering the behavior of athletes.

"We take the recently publicized legal issues within the athletics department very seriously and have initiated a thorough evaluation of our student-athlete code of conduct," McDavis said in a release.

Greg Browning, the chairman of the board of trustees, promised to review the school's policies when The Columbus Dispatch told him about the arrests for a story in Saturday's editions.

Stuck, a sophomore offensive lineman, was cited Sept. 30 for underage consumption. Johnson, a junior offensive lineman, was recently convicted of assault in Athens County Municipal Court. Dunlap, a sophomore defensive lineman, was convicted of driving under the influence in April.

Johnson and Dunlap were suspended for Saturday's 21-9 loss to Bowling Green.

Ottrix, a senior, has had two alcohol-related charges, the school said.

There was no answer at phone listings for Stuck, Johnson and Ottrix. A message seeking comment was left for Dunlap with a man who identified himself as his father.