SAN DIEGO — San Diego State's University’s athletics director and head football coach held a news conference Monday to talk about the team’s upcoming season opener this weekend at Snapdragon Stadium.
But that's not what they ended up talking about.
The questioning from reporters focused instead on a lawsuit involving three former Aztecs football players, accusing them of gang-raping a 17-year-old girl in October of last year at an off-campus house party.
SDSU’s plan going into the news conference was to have Aztecs Head Football Coach, Brady Hoke, and SDSU Director of Athletics, J.D. Wicker, read prepared statements and then move on.
“There's no protecting anyone. We're not here to do that. That's part of being accountable,” Hoke read from his statement.
But after the statements, the questions kept coming in, not about the upcoming season opener, but about the alleged rape.
Three former Aztecs players were named as defendants in a civil suit filed last week, including punter Matt Araiza, who was drafted by the NFL before being cut from the Buffalo Bills over the weekend.
Two former SDSU players have been released from the Aztecs football team, as well.
“I can confirm that Pa'a Ewaliko and Zavier Leonard are not currently members of the team,” Wicker said.
CBS 8 asked Wicker if he was aware of any other Aztecs football players under investigation.
“To this point, the only three people that we're aware of are the three people in the civil suit, that have been confirmed by anyone that was a party to the incident -- are the three that have been named,” Wicker responded.
Initial reports indicated more players might be involved in the alleged rape and that some of the players lived at the house where the party took place.
Wicker confirmed during the news conference that the athletic department has records of the addresses of football players. When asked how many players lived at the house in question, Wicker responded, “I don't recall off the top of my head.”
At one point during the news conference, Wicker became visibly emotional.
“One of our pillars is to create great human beings. And it's hard when the training you provide may not have been enough,” Wicker said.
CBS 8 spoke to Araiza’s attorney, Kerry Armstrong, over the weekend. Armstrong said his client still has not provided DNA samples to investigators handling the criminal case.
Araiza is expected to voluntarily provide DNA samples in the coming weeks, according to Armstrong.
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