According to a report by Joe Giglio at the News & Observer, NC State power forward DJ Funderburk was charged with larceny property damage by university police. A redacted copy of the incident report was distributed to the News & Observer.
Back on Sept. 25, four car boots were placed on the tires of Funderburk’s vehicle while it was parked at the on-campus Reynold Coliseum parking deck. Funderburk already had multiple outstanding parking tickets.
At 6:02 p.m., Funderburk drove off with two of the boots on his car and damaged the other two and the concrete surface in the lot. The total damage was $330, according to the redacted version of the incident report provided by the university police department.
On Sept. 30, Funderburk was suspended indefinitely from team activities. During a team media event on Oct. 3, head coach Kevin Keatts said Funderburk failed to meet the program’s expectations. Then on Wednesday this week, Keatts declined comment of Funderburk’s status.
Two car boots damaged.
Two car boots considered stolen after DJ Funderburk drove away with them still attached to his car.The NC State-iest of stories behind Funderburk's parking ticket incident and his subsequent suspension .. https://t.co/4P3QSQzQnz pic.twitter.com/sf3ZEuD9Ia
— Joe Giglio (@giglio_OG) October 10, 2019
NC State’s campus transportation department declined prosecution of the charges, per Giglio’s report; however, Funderburk was referred to the university’s office of student conduct.
Later this week while appearing on The David Glenn Show, Keatts address the team’s situation with Funerburk:
We have high expectations of what we want our guys to do. And one of them is, obviously, taking care of academics. The other one is playing high-level basketball. But you also have to be a great person in the community, on campus. Anytime any of our guys are not holding up to what we think they should be doing, then obviously there’s going to be a separation for us for an amount of time — until that player decides to get on board and do all the right things.
Keatts continued:
But DJ’s a good player. Anytime somebody’s part of your family, when they do something wrong, you still love them. But there’s also a lesson to be learned or a teaching moment in some of these things. Hopefully he’ll get things on track and be a part of the program. If not, then somebody else will have to take advantage.
NC State starts its 2019-20 season in less than a month — at home against Georgia Tech (Nov. 5). Prior to that, though, NC State has a preseason contest lined up with Mount Olive on Oct. 27.
Funderburk is an important player for a team this season that has serious NCAA Tournament aspirations. Funderburk averaged 8.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game — in under 20 minutes per contest — last season. He’s also one of the best offensive rebounders in the ACC: 11.2 percent offensive rebound rate.
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