UCLA wide receivers coach Eric Scott was arrested and charged for burglary on Tuesday.
Today, coach Karl Dorrell placed Scott on administrative leave.
“I have decided to place Eric on administrative leave while the matter is being investigated,” Dorrell said in a statement issued to the media at 7 p.m. Wednesday. “We will continue to gather information regarding the case and will make a determination on Eric’s status at the appropriate time.”
The 32-year-old was set to begin his first year on the UCLA coaching staff.
L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a residence in Norwalk where they allegedly found Scott and two other men burglarizing the home. Scott was booked at 1:07 p.m. and released on $50,000 bail at 9:25 p.m.
The two other men, Jesus DeAlba and Timothy Williams, were also arrested.
It was reported that 23-year-old DeAlba played football at Crenshaw High School, where Scott served as offensive coordinator before coming to UCLA.
On Wednesday morning, the UCLA Athletic Department released a statement, saying that it was conducting its own investigation before making any decisions. Hours later, Dorrell issued his statement.
"I knew he had some issues in his background," Dorell said. "Some other information has surfaced during this investigation that I was not aware of. Eric was placed on probation and fulfilled his obligations for those issues."
Scott had been hailed for his tremendous recruiting in his short time at UCLA. He was hired as an administrative intern last year during the recruitment of two Crenshaw stars, defensive tackle Brian Price and running back Raymond Carter. Both chose to play for UCLA.
Scott had also recruited two four-star players for the Class of 2008 – wide receiver Kemonte Bateman and safety Rahim Moore.
In his statement, Dorell was quick to defend Scott’s hiring.
“We felt that the hiring of Eric was giving a good young man a chance to make a career for himself,” Dorell said.