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Two Hawaii starting players have been suspended for Saturday's season-opener at home against Colorado after they were arrested on charges of misdemeanor assault stemming from a weekend brawl at a Waikiki nightclub, University of Hawaii officials announced Monday.
Outside linebacker Aaron Brown and receiver Darius Bright were arrested in the early hours Sunday following a fight at Zanzabar Nightclub. They were both released after posting bail.
''Aaron and Darius used extremely poor judgment and in turn embarrassed the football program and the university,'' Warriors coach Greg McMackin said Monday. ''These are two young men who have never been in trouble with the law before, but became involved in a situation where they did not make the right choices.''
The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Brown, a senior from Puyallup, Wash., led the Warriors with five sacks and ranked third with 83 tackles last season. He also had three interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns.
Bright, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound junior from Fayetteville, NC, redshirted last year after playing two seasons for City College of San Francisco.
Witnesses reported that two men struck a 22-year-old man, causing injuries to his face, Honolulu police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said.
The players apologized to teammates and met with McMackin and athletics director Jim Donovan on Monday. They will be allowed to rejoin team practices Tuesday.
A decision will be made early next week on whether they will play in Hawaii's Sept. 10 game at Washington, Donovan said.
''We want to make sure our student-athletes live up to the standards of representing their team, their university and the entire state in the right way,'' Donovan said. ''We'll continue to be collecting more facts throughout the next few days before making a decision on their game status next week.''
Brown and Bright will also face team discipline and participate in community service throughout the season, the school said.
