LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KTSM) – New Mexico State men’s basketball player Mike Peake has been suspended from the Aggies basketball program indefinitely, KTSM confirmed on Monday.
The news of Peake’s suspension was first reported by the Las Cruces Sun-News.
NMSU Director of Athletics Mario Moccia confirmed Peake’s suspension from the basketball program. However, a university official told KTSM that Peake’s suspension did not affect his status as a student at the university and that he is still enrolled at NMSU at this time, as the school and state police conduct ongoing investigations.
“Mike is indefinitely suspended from the program pending the university process and current ongoing investigation process,” Moccia said in a statement to KTSM.
Peake’s suspension from NMSU basketball comes as a result of a deadly shooting at UNM on Nov. 19 that left 19-year-old UNM student Brandon Travis dead and New Mexico State men’s basketball player Mike Peake hospitalized with injuries. Peake was in Albuquerque for the originally scheduled Nov. 19 game between the Aggies and Lobos at The Pit.
According to police, the shooting was in response to a fight on Oct. 15 at the UNM-NMSU football game in Las Cruces involving Peake, other NMSU student-athletes, Brandon Travis and other UNM students.
Travis and four other UNM students conspired to lure Peake to campus at 3 a.m. Saturday morning and assault him. So far, two of those students have been arrested: 19-year-old Jonathan Smith and a 17-year-old female, both of whom have been charged with multiple crimes, including Aggravated Battery and Conspiracy.
The school says Peake was disciplined for his role in an Oct. 15 fight that was the alleged precursor to the Nov. 19 shooting, but has not detailed what that discipline was.
NMSU and police have confirmed that Peake took a gun on a team bus to Albuquerque, breaking University policy, and carried a gun on the UNM campus, a misdemeanor in New Mexico.
Moccia told KTSM that the decision to suspend Peake was made alongside head coach Greg Heiar. He said that they hadn’t publicly discussed discipline until know because Peake was recovering from his injuries. KTSM has confirmed through multiple sources that Peake has been released from the hospital.
“If there is criticism to be levied, it can be levied on me. I can’t get into specifics of health and things like that, but when you have a student-athlete you’ve known for quite some time who’s in the hospital having multiple procedures, I did not feel that that was the proper time to make this announcement. Now that that’s down the road, I felt more comfortable answering questions from reporters on Mike Peake’s status,” Moccia said.
NMSU will face Simon Fraser University on Monday night at 7 p.m. in a game that was scheduled in place of the cancelled Dec. 3 game vs. New Mexico.