Arizona State running back Hakim Hill was sent home from El Paso, Texas, on Monday morning and coach Dirk Koetter said his checkered ASU football career is over.
Hill, a junior, was suspended from the team after he violated unspecified team rules Sunday night, just hours after ASU arrived in El Paso for Friday's Sun Bowl game vs. Purdue.
Hill was also suspended for one game earlier this season after a verbal altercation with ASU strength and conditioning coach Joe Kenn. Hill arrived at ASU with excess baggage from high school days in Iowa, where he was arrested three times. In the most serious case, he pleaded guilty to assault causing injury, a conviction considered a serious misdemeanor in the Iowa court system.
Rudy Burgess will start at tailback on Friday, with freshman Antone Saulsberry (who started the year at linebacker) serving as his backup. Preston Jones will be No. 3 on the depth chart.
Hill is the third ASU tailback lost for the year, following Loren Wade, who was suspended for NCAA violations that are still under investigation, and Randy Hill, who suffered a torn ACL injury.
