PITTSBURGH St. John's players hit with expulsions, suspensions

Among the troubles is an an incident with a women following a strip club visit.
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.
The motive
"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 today 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.
The players
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 today. 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.
Program a mess
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.