ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512260092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AND STAFF REPORTS
This may be the best season in Virginia Tech football history, but the legal problems continue for the Hokies.
Antonio Banks, a starting cornerback for 13th-ranked Tech, has been charged with assault and battery, but will play against No.9 Texas at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year's Eve.
This month, head coach Frank Beamer suspended two players - linebacker Tony Morrison and wide receiver James Crawford - indefinitely after run-ins with police.
Blacksburg police said Banks, 22, was arrested Dec.12 in connection with a Dec.3 fight at an apartment.
Beamer said Banks will remain with the team for now.
``I feel it is appropriate for Antonio Banks to play for Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl game,'' Beamer told The News Messenger of Blacksburg. When the case is resolved, Beamer said, he will take further action if circumstances dictate.
The alleged victim said he was beaten by five men when he left a party, Police Chief Bill Brown said. The man was treated for bruises to the head and hands at a local hospital and released.
He told police he thought all five were football players, but was able to identify only Banks during a photo lineup, Brown said.
Banks is free on a promise to appear for a Jan.18 preliminary hearing in Montgomery General District Court, Brown said.
Banks, a senior from Newport News, has 19 tackles and one interception in eight games this season. Banks ran back the interception 65 yards for a touchdown on the last play of the game against Virginia to seal the Hokies' 36-29 victory. He also averaged 28.2 yards on five kickoff returns.
Beamer suspended Morrison, a sophomore linebacker, who was arrested on charges of petty larceny, destruction of property and being drunk in public. The other suspended player, Crawford, was charged with attempted hit-and-run and failure to pay a towing fee.
Neither will make the trip to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl.
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