Broadus status uncertain

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jan 8, 2007 by Dick Harmon Deseret Morning News

PROVO -- BYU basketball coach Dave Rose spent Sunday and Monday investigating circumstances surrounding the arrest of Cougar senior point guard Rashaun Broadus, who was jailed early Sunday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Rose could announced a decision on Broadus' status on BYU basketball team as early as today.

Broadus was suspended for one game in the 2005-06 season for breaking team rules. The Sunday morning incident came hours after Broadus scored his season-best 19 points in a win over San Diego State.

According to the Utah Highway Patrol report, Broadus was pulled over on I-15 in Provo for speeding 11 to 15 miles above the speed limit. He was also cited for having non-conforming tinted glass and no driver's license. Broadus refused to take a Breathanalyzer test at the scene, which is a DUI citation under Utah law. Broadus was taken to the Utah County jail where he was released on bail Sunday morning just after 7 a.m.

Rose, who appeared on his Sunday night coaches show on KSL-TV did not make mention of Broadus' legal incident. The TV show was taped earlier in the day.

Broadus came to Provo after a junior college career at Western Wyoming College. He played in all 15 BYU games this season and Saturday's performance by the native of Hawaii was his best effort of the season. During a three-game winning streak at the BYU Holiday Classic after Christmas, Broadus did not see significant action, although he started all three games. In his place, senior captain Austin Ainge saw most of the playing time.

Last year, Broadus earned a one-game suspension for an undisclosed infraction of team rules. Since this latest incident involves allegedly breaking the law, if alcohol is involved, he could earn a stiffer penalty from Rose or BYU's honor code offense - - or both.

According to basketball spokesman Brett Pyne, Rose was talking to as many people as he could surrounding the incident, interviewing Broadus, who was scheduled for his first day of winter semester classes on Monday, his athletic director Tom Holmoe and university officials and will issue a statement later today.

E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com