LU starter suspended following drug charges

Liberty football coach Danny Rocco announced Tuesday that starting nose guard Asa Chapman, a 6-foot-5, 385-pound All-American candidate, has been suspended indefinitely after Chapman was arrested last Friday night and charged with two counts of drug possession.

Court records show drug charges were filed in Lynchburg General District Court on Tuesday morning against Chapman. He is charged with a misdemeanor count of marijuana possession and a felony count of possession of cocaine. His arraignment hearing is set for Sept. 12.

The Flames play twice before Chapman’s initial hearing. They open the season Saturday at North Carolina State. Liberty’s home opener is Sept. 10 at Williams Stadium against Robert Morris.

“I’m going to suspend him indefinitely for now, really for conduct detrimental to the team and conduct unbecoming of an LU student-athlete,” Rocco said. “I’m certainly very hopeful as we go through the due process here and as we wait on the court date that we will be in a position to strongly reconsider reinstatement. But it will not be until we have sufficient information that, in our opinion, would merit that response.”

According to court records, Chapman was pulled over and arrested by Lynchburg Police on Friday night. Chapman was released after making bail. The cocaine charge is a Class 5 felony. He practiced Monday night before Rocco was made aware of the drug charges Chapman faced. Chapman was not on the field for Tuesday afternoon’s practice.

Chapman will also have to answer for unpaid traffic violations at his Sept. 12 court date. On Oct. 5, 2010, he was pulled over by Virginia State Police and charged with not wearing a seat belt and either driving with a light out or excessive lights. Court records show he was also charged with driving on a suspended license, which is a misdemeanor. He was convicted of all three charges in November, but records are unclear as to whether he made his court appearance. They do show he never paid nearly $300 in fines and court fees.

Around the same time as his November court date, a judge issued an order for Chapman to come to court to show why he shouldn’t be held in contempt. When he didn’t show up for that date, the judge issued a capias order for Chapman to be arrested for contempt.

“There was an outstanding capias,” Lynchburg Police Capt. Ryan Zuidema said. “But, it was a traffic stop that led to the (drug) charges.”

Chapman is Liberty’s leading returning tackler. He made 41 stops last season, including 3 ½ tackles for loss and two sacks. He also had four quarterback hurries and forced a fumble. He played a key role in the Flames’ upset of FBS member Ball State last season. He sacked Cardinals quarterback Keith Wenning and forced a fumble on a 4th-and-2 play that proved to be BSU’s last gasp in a 27-23 LU victory.

“People around him are going to have to pick it up a notch, that’s the reality of it,” Rocco said. “Everybody’s going to have to just assume more responsibility and bring more energy to the game, to the huddle. Asa has a very significant presence, and not just physically, in our lineup. His void is going to be filled by a number of different people.”

With Chapman out of the lineup, starting defensive end Greg Schuster will move to nose guard, where he backed up Chapman last season. Paco Varol and Cory Freeman will get the starting nod at the two defensive end spots.

“We have a couple of options there,” Rocco said. “Schuster can go inside. So can (Francis) Bah. So we have a couple of different ways that we can go about filling that spot. They were already in the mix. Asa missed the majority of camp (with a knee injury). So we’ve had enough work at different combinations in there that we’re going to be able to efficiently execute our defense.”

For more from Rocco’s Tuesday press conference, read Lang’s blog at www.mynewsadvance.com.