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Rex Brown

Clemson linebacker DeAndre McDaniel was not suspended by Clemson coach Tommy Bowden Monday, despite his arrest on June 21 in which he was charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

CLEMSON — In a conversation with alumni earlier this month, Clemson coach Tommy Bowden made reference to his program’s lack of disciplinary issues during his 10 years in charge. It appears Bowden forgot to knock on wood after making this reference.

For the second time in six months, Bowden has to deal with disciplinary problems with a star player – this time it’s recently converted linebacker DeAndre McDaniel.

The sophomore, who played in all 13 games last season as a true freshman at safety, was arrested at the University Village apartments by the Central Police Department on Saturday night and charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. If convicted, McDaniel faces up to 10 years in prison on the misdemeanor charge.

In December of last year, former linebacker Cortney Vincent was arrested and charged with DUI. Vincent ultimately played in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on New Year’s Eve, but was suspended from spring practice after a violation of team rules and then kicked off the team last month when he failed to meet Bowden’s standards in coming back.

“Discipline has been pretty daggum good around here for the last 10 years,” Bowden said last week before leaving town for vacation. “It goes in cycles, for me to throw stones at what has happened to Coach (Steve) Spurrier, it’s going to happen here. It goes in cycles. It does not happen very long, it does not happen very often and it does not happen as consistently.”

McDaniel was released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond following his arrest. Through University spokesman Tim Bourret, Bowden said, “We are aware of the situation and are in the process of gathering the facts.”

The facts so far don’t look so good on McDaniel. According to the Central Police Department’s incident report, McDaniel was at his apartment when he and his girlfriend became involved in an argument stemming from an incident that occurred at a nearby nightclub earlier that evening.

From this argument, McDaniel became irritated and began cursing, which caused his girlfriend to push his head while he was lying in the bed. The victim then states McDaniel jumped on top of her at that point, pulling the comforter over her head and began choking her while jerking her head up and down.

She then stated in the report that he struck her with a closed fist in the face and head area. He then proceeded to curse at her in a derogatory manner towards women and threatened to break her neck. He eventually shoved her down a flight of stairs.

The victim did make it out of the apartment and started towards her car when McDaniel pushed her in the chest.

The victim was treated at the Oconee Memorial Hospital in Seneca for a cervical sprain, soft tissue contusion, facial contusion and chest wall contusion.

McDaniel, from Tallahassee, Fla., recorded 33 tackles, four tackles for loss, six passes broken up, three quarterback pressures and two interceptions last year, while also participating on special teams. In the spring, Clemson coaches moved him over to linebacker to help with the lack of depth at the three linebacker positions.