UTSA's Joshua Cephus not expected to face further punishment for DWI charge, coach Jeff Traylor says

UTSA wide receiver Joshua Cephus is not expected to face additional punishment from the team after being charged with driving while intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration of .15 or higher, Roadrunners coach Jeff Traylor said Monday.
The Class A misdemeanor charge stemmed from a rollover crash near UTSA’s campus on Dec. 9, after which Cephus was suspended by the university and missed the team’s appearance in the Cure Bowl against Troy on Dec. 16. He returned to team activities in January.
In July, he was booked on the DWI charge, Bexar County court records show. Cephus posted $1,500 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned in state district court on Aug. 9.
“He was very upfront when it happened. Told us the truth,” Traylor said Monday. “We suspended him immediately. Missing a bowl game is a really big deal. Obviously, if something were to come out that we didn’t know about, (but) so far everything he’s told us has been exactly the case.”
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“We have a committee that oversees all of our student conduct and their code and behavior, and I would not anticipate any further disciplinary action, unless something were to come out that we didn’t know about,” Traylor added. “So far, he’s been totally transparent and honest, and done everything that our school has asked him to do.”
Asked for comment following Cephus' booking on whether the charge would affect his status with the football team, UTSA noted in a statement that he was suspended promptly after the crash.
Cephus "was permitted to return to team activities in January following completion of the terms of his suspension,” the statement said. “It would be up to a student conduct committee to determine if any further action is warranted.”
A senior who arrived at UTSA in 2019 out of Spring Dekaney High School in Harris County, Cephus had 87 catches for 985 yards and six touchdowns last season.
He is slated to return to the Roadrunners for his final year of eligibility in 2023 but did not participate in UTSA’s spring practice due to a knee injury.
“He is as good of a kid as you’ll ever coach in your life,” Traylor said Monday. “A tough kid, and a really unfortunate situation. I feel terrible for Josh. He understands how lucky he was. That thing could’ve been a lot worse. We’re very grateful he came out of that thing OK and bounced back, and has done all of the things we asked him to do.”
UTSA wide receiver JoshuaÊCephus was charged with DWI in connection with a rollover crash near the main campus on Dec. 9.
UTSA wide receiver JoshuaÊCephus was charged with DWI in connection with a rollover crash near the main campus on Dec. 9.
Courtesy SAPD
Under Traylor, the Roadrunners have awarded single-digit jersey numbers to team leaders who best embody the program’s culture. Cephus has worn No. 2 the past two seasons, and Traylor said he “would not anticipate” any impact to Cephus’ eligibility for that accolade.
“Our kids vote for the single digits, and our coaches. But Josh has been one of the best leaders of our team,” Traylor said. “He’s never taken a rep off. He never takes a rep off, ever. He practices his tail off. No one feels worse about that than Josh. If you knew Josh, you’d know what I was talking about.”
The accident occurred at 3:25 a.m. on Dec. 9 at the intersection of Babcock Road and UTSA Boulevard on the Northwest Side, court records show.
Cephus, then 21, told police he was driving south on Babcock and tried to turn left at a green light when he “lost control of his vehicle and proceeded to roll his vehicle over, coming to a rest at a nearby light post,” per court records.
Multiple air bags deployed during the crash. Cephus “was bleeding from his hand slightly,” but he declined emergency medical assistance at the scene, records show. The passenger in the car, former UTSA football walk-on Emmanuel Odetola, was not injured.
Cephus twice declined to perform field sobriety tests, but he voluntarily provided a breath specimen and later a blood sample, the records show. The blood sample was drawn at 5:13 a.m. Dec. 9, nearly two hours after the accident, according to the records.
UTSA wide receiver Joshua Cephus fumbles the ball during a game against Texas Southern at the Alamodome.
UTSA wide receiver Joshua Cephus fumbles the ball during a game against Texas Southern at the Alamodome.
UTSA’s football team departed for Orlando to play in the Cure Bowl three days later, and Cephus did not make the trip.
San Antonio police obtained a warrant for Cephus' arrest in late June after receiving results of a lab analysis of the blood sample.
Driving with a BAC above 0.08, the threshold for DWI, typically is charged as a Class B misdemeanor for a first-time offender, with a potential jail sentence of up to six months upon conviction.
Driving with a BAC above 0.15 is a Class A misdemeanor with stiffer penalties, including a jail term of up to one year, even for a first offense.