Isle volleyball Olympian
faces assault charge in Greece

Former University of Hawaii volleyball star Clay Stanley is expected to tell a Greek judge that he does not remember his alleged assault of a pregnant woman early yesterday morning in Athens, Greece, after the Olympic closing ceremonies.

Clay Stanley: The former UH star reportedly does not remember the incident

Stanley, 26, was charged with assaulting a pregnant Greek woman during a scuffle, according to the Associated Press. Stanley was arraigned yesterday morning in Athens and was given 48 hours to prepare his defense.

He was at a nightclub with his USA Volleyball teammates after the closing ceremonies and has little or no recollection of the incident that led to his arrest, according to his stepfather.

Stanley has been advised by legal counsel not to discuss the case. The starting opposite for the U.S. Olympic team was released into the custody of U.S. coach Doug Beal and spent yesterday with Beal and lawyers.

"He's a very depressed young man," Beal told the Star-Bulletin last night in a telephone call from Athens. "It's hard to piece together what happened. I'm disappointed for Clay, embarrassed for him, USA Volleyball, the U.S. Olympic Committee and for me, personally.

"We will get Clay all the help that we possibly can. We will do everything possible to help him get through this. The charges are serious, the potential sentence is serious and Clay is well aware of how serious this is. Hopefully, everything will be settled quickly and he will be free tomorrow."

The trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow (8 tonight HST).

Stanley's stepfather, Marc Haine, said the athlete's drink may have been spiked.

Haine, who lives in Honolulu, has been in contact with Stanley and his girlfriend, former UH softball player Desiree Duran, who is also in Greece.

"Clay is very depressed about all of this," Haine said last night. "He had a total blackout. Desi (Duran) said Clay became very agitated after leaving the club and bumped into a mo-ped. The passengers fell off."

Beal, who was not with the group, said the pregnant female passenger had been interviewed on Greek television and appeared to be uninjured.

The coach said Stanley was also examined by a USOC doctor, and "physically he is fine," Beal said. "They are using the word 'assault,' which in my mind carries intent. I'm quite confident that Clay had no intent to assault anyone."

Stanley, a 1996 Kaiser High graduate, played for three seasons for UH between 1997 and 2000. He plays for Panathanikos, a team in the Greek pro league. On Sunday, Stanley had 10 kills and two aces in the U.S. loss to Russia in the bronze-medal match. He finished seventh in points (110) and second in aces (17) in the Olympic volleyball competition.

Stanley's father, Jon, played on the U.S. volleyball team in the 1968 Olympics. The Stanleys were the first father and son to compete in Olympic volleyball.