Washington State DL arrested for punching own teammate

Washington State Cougars freshman defensive end Emmitt Su’a-Kalio was arrested yesterday after punching a Washington State teammate during a locker room fight that reportedly occurred on Thursday. The victim of the punch is not known at this time, but he did call police stating that he was “sucker punched” by a teammate and broke his jaw. All that is known about the player who was punched is that he had surgery on his jaw in Spokane.

Emmitt Su’a-Kalio has been booked for felony second degree assault, but he was released from Whitman County Jail yesterday afternoon after charges were not filed. Charges have to be filed by the ninth of this month, and he would have to appear in court a week later. Needless to say, he won’t be facing the California Golden Bears this week, and there’s a high chance he’ll be kicked off the team.

Su’a-Kalio is an incoming two-star recruit, and the true freshman committed to the Washington State Cougars in early December, just four days before his official visit to Pullman. He did not take any other official visits, but the two-star prospect from the American Samoa did have another Pac-12 offer from the Utah Utes (grades prevented Wisconsin from offering).

Statement from Washington State, “It is a team matter and we won’t comment on team matters.”

Coaches on the Washington State staff reportedly worked with officers to bring Su’a-Kalio into custody, and it will be interesting to see what the Cougs do with the true freshman DL. The 6’4″, 250 pound player was viewed as a best-fit as a strong-side defensive end in college, but he has yet to play this year (which isn’t surprising, since he’s very raw). All in all, I’m pretty sure this guy is done playing at Washington State, but they won’t make a move until all details are known (for instance, was the victim completely innocent?).