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Former Temple star and Chicago Bull Rick Brunson was indicted Thursday morning on charges of attempted criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual abuse, aggravated battery and domestic battery stemming from his arrest last month following an encounter with a massage therapist, according to the Chicago Tribune. Consequently, the so-called package deal Temple planned to execute by hiring Brunson to gain a commitment from his son, Class of 2015 star Jalen Brunson, is now considered dead given the fact that Temple can't realistically be expected to make the hire under these circumstances.
"That's over now," an industry source told CBSSports.com. "Temple was going to do it, but they can't do it now. You can't hire a coach facing all of those charges."
Here are the details of the incident, courtesy of the Chicago Tribune:
Brunson was charged last month with attempted sexual assault and aggravated battery after an incident April 2 at Life Time Athletic center. The employee at the fitness center had notified Brunson that she would stop giving him massages in 2013, due to a undisclosed prior problem with him, according to the Vernon Hills police report. ... He had formerly booked massages with the alleged victim 10-20 times over a three-year period “always using his name,” the police report stated. On April 2, “she was surprised to see Brunson when she walked into the massage room since the name in the appointment book was not Brunson’s but listed as Patrick Ewing." ... According to the record, "Brunson admitted to her that he booked the massage under a different name. ... (She) reluctantly agreed to massage him since he was already there.”
The report states that he was already undressed at the time.
Brunson pled not guilty to all charges Thursday morning.
His son, Jalen Brunson, is ranked 20th in the Class of 2015 by 247Sports. Sources have told CBSSports.com that Temple coach Fran Dunphy had planned to hire the elder Brunson to secure a commitment from his son, who is now considering Illinois, Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan, Connecticut, Kansas, Villanova and, yes, Temple. But, again, sources said that package deal is now off given the seriousness of the allegations.
