Here are all the details of the crime:
www.dailynorthwestern.com/daily/issues/2001/10/02/sports/sp-mccants.shtmlPlayer dismissed from team after fight, arrest
McCants, former teammate charged with battery
By Jackie Mah and Glenn Kasses
The Daily Northwestern
Weinberg sophomore Ed McCants was kicked off Northwestern's basketball team Monday after he and a former player were arrested following a fight with an Evanston couple.
"Ed McCants has been dismissed from the basketball team for a violation of team rules," Director of Athletics Rick Taylor said.
Taylor said McCants was made aware of NU's decision to dismiss him on Monday, three days after the incident.
McCants, 20, was charged with one misdemeanor count of battery, and former NU basketball player Casey Cortez, 21, was charged with criminal damage to property and one misdemeanor count of battery, said Cmdr. Michael Perry of the Evanston Police Department. If convicted, he could face up to one year in prison.
Cortez left the basketball team midseason last year for personal reasons. He is now enrolled as a student at Kendall College, Perry said.
McCants and Cortez, both of the 900 block of Main Street, were talking loudly with several other people in front of a house at 831 Hamlin St. shortly after 10 p.m. when the owner came out and told the group to be quiet, Perry said.
Dave Utzinger, a neighbor who lives across the street, said he saw a man "charge up on the porch from the street." He said he also heard fighting noises, but didn't actually see anything.
"I immediately came inside and called the police," Utzinger said. "Next thing I know I come outside and I see this guy (McCants) spread-eagle on the porch."
McCants hit his head on the wooden banister during the altercation, Perry said.
The homeowner told police that when he tried to go back inside the house, Cortez kicked open the door, shattering the glass, Perry said.
But Utzinger said he heard that Cortez "came through with a board" and shattered the glass.
"We've lived here for 30 years, but I've never seen anything like this," Utzinger said.
The man suffered three cuts on his forehead and his wife received cuts on her left hand from flying glass when Cortez broke through the front door of the house, Perry said.
"She told me she had glass in her mouth, and he said he had glass all over his face," Utzinger said from a conversation with the victims.
"They're two nice people who I think bought the place last year," Utzinger said. "He came over and thanked me for calling the police."
There was a party next door at 829 Hamlin St., Utzinger said, and it appeared to him that McCants and Cortez were headed there.
Weinberg senior Adam Kennedy, who lives at 829 Hamlin St., said he saw at least five police cars, one fire truck and two ambulances at the scene that night.
"They took at least one person on a stretcher, and they cuffed at least one person and took him away," Kennedy said.
McCants and Cortez were taken to Evanston Hospital and both have since been released, according to Perry and McCants' mother, Debbie McCants. She declined to say any more about the incident.
Athletics Director Taylor declined to comment further on the situation. He said he didn't know whether any more information will be released.
Head coach Bill Carmody is in Colorado on a recruiting trip with Paul Lee, one of his assistants, an NU official said. Craig Robinson and Mitch Henderson, the team's two other assistant coaches, were unavailable for comment.
McCants didn't start any games for the basketball team in his freshman season and slumped badly during the conference schedule. But his father, Brian McCants, said in April that his son had been hampered by an injury received during a game against Southern California in late December.
The 6-foot-2-inch guard displayed some of the most impressive physical skills on the team. He also was recognized for his shooting range, although he often was known to take poor shots from well beyond the three-point line.
McCants and Cortez are scheduled to appear 10:30 a.m. Oct. 18 at Circuit Court in Skokie.