Suspended Markell Johnson facing felonious assault charges

NC State starting point guard Markell Johnson, who was suspended indefinitely Dec. 16 for "a violation of the Student-Athlete Code of Conduct," is facing felonious assault charges, according to Ohio court documents obtained by The Herald-Sun in Durham, North Carolina.

The charges stem from an Oct. 8 incident in Johnson's hometown of Cleveland, The Herald-Sun reported. He was indicted, along with three other men, on Dec. 5 and jailed on Dec. 20 before being released on $5,000 bond, according to the report.

The case was continued Thursday until the next pretrial hearing scheduled for Jan. 8, according to online court records.

Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts declined to comment on Johnson's case Thursday afternoon.

Athletic spokesman Fred Demarest said the school learned of the indictment Dec. 14 and indefinitely suspended Johnson that day. N.C. State announced the suspension two days later.

At the time, team spokesman Craig Hammel cited a violation of the school's student-athlete code of conduct but provided no further details.

According to the school's code of conduct, a student-athlete charged with a felony is indefinitely suspended from athletics participation, pending the resolution of charges. Johnson played in the Dec. 9 win against UMKC after the indictment, though Keatts said the program "acted appropriately as soon as we found out about it."

"At this time, there's nothing more that I can say than we've already said about it," Keatts said.

Johnson had started all 10 games he played, averaging 8.7 points, 6.6 assists and an ACC-leading 2.4 steals per game. NC State went 8-2 with Johnson in the lineup and is 2-1 without him.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.