A Tulane University football player arrested Tuesday is accused of raping a high-school student while she was passed out in his roommate’s bed in a campus dormitory.

The 18-year-old woman told police that she awoke at 4 a.m. on April 14 to Niguel “Teddy” Veal, 17, on top of her having sex with her. Veal, a wide receiver recruited from West Jefferson High School, enrolled at Tulane this spring and is considered one of the university’s top recruits.

According to New Orleans police reports, the woman and her friend, described as “another female athlete chaperon,” drank alcohol with Veal and his roommate on the evening of April 13 before heading back to the men’s dorm room at Butler Hall on Tulane’s campus.

After watching a movie, the woman had consensual sex with Veal’s roommate, then fell asleep in his bed. The roommate left the room. While he was out, Veal got on top of the woman and raped her while she was “asleep and unconscious due to alcohol inebriation,” according to a Tuesday (April 21) police bulletin issued by NOPD Sex Crimes Detective Vernon Haynes, who secured the arrest warrant earlier that day.

Veal, of Gretna, was booked Tuesday with one count of simple rape. Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell set Veal’s bond at $20,000. He will turn 18 on May 6, records show.

Veal’s aunt, Tamice Glasper, who raised him since his mother died when he was in the 9th grade, defended him. She said Veal has never been in any trouble before and has always earned As in school. 

“Niguel is a good person,” she said. “I really believe in my heart he did not rape her. He is a good child. I believe in my heart to God he did not touch that girl.”

Prosecutors sought to keep Veal in Orleans Parish jail until Wednesday morning, when he would sign a restraining order preventing him from contacting the woman. But because Veal’s bond was already being processed, Magistrate Commissioner Albert Thibodeaux allowed Veal to be released Tuesday evening, and ordered him to return to court Wednesday morning to sign the document.

“Thank you, sir,” Veal told the judge, as he stood in an orange jumpsuit with his hands clasped in front of his body. Veal has hired an attorney but that name was not immediately available in court records.

Veal was suspended from the team immediately upon his arrest, said Tulane spokesman Michael Strecker. He declined to comment on any pending disciplinary action on Veal’s enrollment at the university, citing federal privacy laws. 

Veal is currently enrolled in Tulane’s School of Science and Engineering, according to an online student directory.

Veal made the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s Class 5A All-State team. Veal caught 44 passes for 673 yards and 11 touchdowns while also returning three kicks for scores. 

He is a cousin of Alabama wide receiver Raheem Falkins, whose mother is Glasper.

The 6-foot, 180-pound Veal was the No. 26 prospect in the NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune Nifty 50 rankings of high school football recruits.