A stabbing involving Eastern students that occurred outside the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union Saturday evening still has a Panther football player in the hospital as of Monday evening.

Junior preseason All-American cornerback Ben Brown was the person injured during the incident and is still being held at Sarah Bush Lincoln Hospital. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native is a two-year starter for the Panthers and is expected to undertake a leadership role on the defensive side during the 2006 season.

University Police confirmed the incident occurred and is still under investigation, but was unable to release any further information.

“All we can say is that a incident occurred between two people outside the Union and one was taken to the hospital,” said University Police chief Adam Due.

Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni confirmed Monday that he was informed of the incident on his cell phone Saturday night on his way back from attending the NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis.

“I had to spend two hours worrying about him while driving,” Bellantoni said.

Most players found out about the incident and the condition of their teammate during a voluntary 7-on-7 workout Sunday afternoon.

“I got back from Mardi Gras in St. Louis, showed up for drills and asked ‘where’s Ben,'” said Ryan Voss, junior wide receiver. “That’s when they told me.”

Bellantoni has already visited Brown in the hospital and planned to do so again Monday evening.

“I went straight to the hospital after I heard, and apparently he was in pretty bad shape once he got there, but he’s okay now,” Bellantoni said. “When I saw him, except for being droggy from the medication, he was as good as you could be.”

Bellantoni was unable to comment on Brown’s current medical condition.

“He’s still in (the hospital) and he’ll probably be there for a couple more days,” Bellantoni said. “I was told that it would be at least a couple weeks before he would be 100 percent.”

Brown was named all-Ohio Valley Conference second team last season, but suffered a knee injury in 2005, limiting him to starting only seven games. It is uncertain whether or not Brown will be able to take part or compete in spring football drills and specifically, the Spring Intra-squad game.

“Whenever he is fully healthy and we don’t when that will be, we will re-evaluate the situation,” Bellantoni said. “I’m just glad he’s okay.”