By Joe Ragusa
NORMAL – Illinois State’s star running back wants to focus solely on football season and not on the arrest that sidelined him briefly in April.
Marshaun Coprich read from a prepared statement Wednesday.
“I want to apologize to the Redbird family and university of Illinois State for my mistake. I’ve worked hard so far to rectify that mistake,” Coprich said. “It’s time to move on and start helping my team win games.”
Coprich said he won’t be making any further comments. He was arrested in April and pleaded guilty in May to selling marijuana to an undercover police officer. He’s serving two years of probation.
Head Coach Brock Spack said Coprich won’t be making anymore mistakes.
“He doesn’t have a leash, does that make sense?” Spack said. “He can’t sneeze wrong.”
Spack also defended his decision not to suspend Coprich for any games this year. He said Coprich was not given special treatment.
“There isn’t a coach that I know that would have handled this any differently than I did with the information that I have,” Spack said. “You see, I have a lot more information than you do, so that’s why I say that statement (about receiving special treatment) is incorrect.”
Spack said Coprich will not be a team captain this year and his scholarship has been reduced by an undisclosed amount.
Coprich earned several honors last season, led the Football Championship Subdivision in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, and set ISU single-season records for rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, rushing yards per game, points scored and total touchdowns.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].
