Jermaine Edmondson is back in the news. You might know him as the guy Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green allegedly slapped over the weekend. It turns out the Michigan State cornerback wants out of East Lansing.
Edmondson asked for his release from the team and was granted it, according to a statement released by Head Coach Mark Dantonio Wednesday night.
Mark Dantonio's statement on Jermaine Edmondson: pic.twitter.com/x1OarLWLmR
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) July 14, 2016
Any mention of the incident with Green is conspicuously absent from the statement, and it is unclear if Edmondson’s altercation with the NBA star played any role in his decision. Either the defensive back was particularly unsettled by the past weekend’s events, or the timing just happened to work out like this.
Green, who played on the Spartan basketball team from 2009-12, was arrested early Sunday morning for assault following a second altercation with Edmondson in as many nights.
On Friday night, Edmondson said he was at a local bar when two men associated with Green allegedly choked him and his girlfriend.
“I was talking to one of my teammates when Draymond bumped into me and I said, ‘Hey bro can you at least say excuse me?'” Edmondson said in a statement to the East Lansing Police Department, via ESPN. “I asked who he was to think that it’s okay to bump into somebody without saying excuse me. He then said, ‘I pay for n—s like you (to get) scholarships.’
“Then I started to say you have me messed up before I was choked out by two guys who were with him.”
Edmondson ran into Green in East Lansing the very next night outside of a restaurant. Edmondson, who celebrated his 22nd birthday on Sunday, decided to confront Green regarding his behavior the night before.
“I walk over and I tell Draymond that last night wasn’t cool,” Edmondson, who is from Canton, Ohio, said in an email to police. “As he responded to me he began to poke me on my shoulder and I tell him that he doesn’t need to put his hands on me, we can just talk. As I started to talk again, boom, I’m punched in my jaw.”
Green was subsequently arrested by nearby police, who said they heard a sound consistent with an open-handed slap. He was taken to the East Lansing jail where it was determined he had a .10 blood-alcohol level. Green was held until he sobered up and was then released.
Edmondson, a rising senior, had 24 tackles last year, and was listed as a third-stringer on the Spartan depth chart. No word on where he plans to transfer.
