Feb 6, 2004

By MIKE CRISSEY
Associated Press Writer

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The woeful season for the St. John's men's basketball team got even worse.

The school expelled senior Grady Reynolds and permanently suspended leading scorer Elijah Ingram, a sophomore who also faces expulsion, and disciplined four other players Thursday after a 38-year-old woman told Pittsburgh police she met several players at a strip club and was raped in a player's hotel room.

Pittsburgh police charged the woman, Sherri Ann Urbanek-Bach, of Astoria, N.Y., with fictitious reports, attempted extortion and prostitution after interviews with the woman and players.

"We believe financial gain was a motive in this case," Pittsburgh police Lt. Kevin Krause told reporters. "Evidence suggests there were demands for money. When the demands were not met, she filed her report."

According to police, several players went to a strip club after the Red Storm's 71-51 loss to Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. The woman told police she met the players around 2:30 a.m. Thursday, then went with them to a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, where she told police she was raped.

Urbanek-Bach remained in custody early Friday awaiting arraignment. A telephone listing under her name in New York was disconnected and she could not be reached for comment.

Although the woman was charged and Pittsburgh police said no players would be charged with rape or sexual assault, St. John's disciplined the players "for violation of team rules and behavior inconsistent with St. John's mission and values." St. John's officials did not detail the alleged violations of team rules.

Besides Reynolds and Ingram, university athletics spokesman Dominic Scianna said the school also permanently suspended from the team senior Abraham Keita, who also faces expulsion, and suspended two other players, freshman Lamont Hamilton and senior Mohamed Diakite. A sixth player, freshman Tyler Jones, faces discipline.

The players were not made available for comment. A message left at a phone number listed for a Grady Reynolds in Abbeyville, Ala., the player's hometown, was not returned for comment late Thursday night.

Cmdr. Maurita Bryant of Pittsburgh's major crimes division said Urbanek-Bach did not have obvious injuries and police concluded her claim wasn't true after a second interview, The New York Times reported Friday. Lt. Kevin Kraus also told the newspaper that one of the players videotaped parts of the incident using his cell phone. The video cast further suspicion on Urbanek-Bach's allegations.

The off-court problems compound what has arguably been one of the worst seasons for St. John's (5-14, 0-8 Big East), the fifth-winningest program in college basketball.

In early December, senior guard Willie Shaw, suspended after being arrested for possession of marijuana along with former St. John's guard Marcus Hatten, was dismissed from the team.

On Dec. 19, six games into his sixth season, Mike Jarvis became the first coach fired during a season in Big East history. Under interim coach Kevin Clark, the Red Storm have gone 3-10, including seven straight losses that matched the 0-7 record of the 1918-19 team.

With eight games left in the regular season, the Red Storm, winless in Big East play, will finish under .500 for the fifth time since 1994-95 and will likely miss the Big East tournament in March at Madison Square Garden, their home court.

Reynolds, the team's second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, was expelled after his second run-in with authorities in as many seasons. He was arrested just days before the 2002-03 season on charges that he pushed a female student against a wall. In July, Reynolds was ordered to perform community service and undergo anger management counseling to settle the charges, which were to be dismissed after six months if he was not arrested again.

Ingram, meanwhile, emerged as St. John's leading scorer this season, averaging 13.2 points a game.

St. John's next plays Boston College at home Sunday afternoon.