Three men arrested in Montee Ball attack
Three men have just been arrested on Tuesday for allegedly assaulting University of Wisconsin running back Montee Ball, nearly a month after the Heisman trophy finalist suffered a concussion during an early-morning attack near the university campus.
According to reports, three 21-year-old men namely Wendell J. Venerable, Deonte J. Wilson and Robert A. Wilks all from Madison, are now facing battery charges in connection to the August 1st attack, but they haven’t been formally charged yet.
One of the men who was arrested had sustained serious injuries during a brawl at a house party, few days prior to the campus attack on Montee Ball.
The authorities said that the attack on Ball may have been connected to an altercation at a house party that the running back attended a few days earlier, although detectives said that they have no evidence suggesting Montee Ball was involved in that fight. The police report said that the investigation on the fight is still underway.
Meanwhile, Montee Ball — a Heisman finalist last season as a junior — has denied any involvement in the fight and said that he hopes to be ready for the season opener.
Previous reports have stated that Ball was walking down a street around 2:15 in the morning of August 1. when two friends walking ahead of him turned around and saw Ball lying on the ground, surrounded by several young men who were kicking him in the chest and head. The attackers fled the scene when one of Ball’s friends and a man across the street moved to break the fight and help him.
Montee Ball is said to have had a prime season last year, scoring 39 touchdowns to tie the NCAA records of Barry Sanders. He finished the year with 1,923 yards rushing and 2,229 all-purpose yards, second in Wisconsin history only to Ron Dayne’s 2,242 yards back in 1996. Ball capped the season by rushing for 164 yards and a touchdown in the Badgers’ 45-38 loss to Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
Days after the bowl game, Montee Ball announced that he would return for his senior season after NFL evaluators told him he most likely would have been a third-round pick.