Arizona State LB Davon Durant dismissed from program

Arizona State linebacker Davon Durant has been dismissed from the program, head coach Todd Graham told Sports Illustrated.

Durant, a redshirt junior, was arrested in March for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend. Durant pled guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in May and was sentenced to two years supervised probation in June. He had been suspended from the program indefinitely since the alleged incident took place.

“He’s done,” Graham told SI. “We parted ways. He put himself in that position. It’s a bad deal, but you’ve got to have accountability. We don’t just talk about character and discipline. We live it. No matter what the legal system does, our standards are high and our guys know that. They know they’re going to be held accountable.”

Durant was arrested March 7 after witnesses said they saw a man strike a woman while they sat in an SUV. His girlfriend told police Durant hit her in the face and grabbed her neck.

A day after the arrest, Durant’s girlfriend told ESPN that she lied about the altercation out of spite after finding text messages from other girls on Durant’s cell phone. However, police proceeded with the charges because of witness accounts and officers noting injuries consistent with her claims.

Durant was a highly-touted junior college transfer from Butler Community College in Kansas. He enrolled early at ASU in January, but never practiced during the spring because of his arrest. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Durant was expected to make an impact on the Sun Devils’ defense in 2015. Now he won’t have that chance.

“If you make exceptions, you end up with a team full of exceptions,” Graham told SI. “We have not compromised and held true to what our beliefs are. So we have a really strong identity as a team because of that. That’s why we’ve got a great chance this season.”

Graham’s team went 10-3 in 2014 and open the 2015 season in a neutral site game against Texas A&M at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sept. 5.

For more Arizona State news, visit ASUDevils.com.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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