Basketball team reinstated
The Utah State University Eastern men’s basketball team was reinstated Wednesday, Sept. 23.
While two players are still under an athletic department suspension from basketball activities, pending the results of an investigation into a reported Sept. 4 sexual assault, the rest of the team has resumed activities.
“The purpose of the program suspension was to ensure an investigation could go forward unhindered,” said Greg Dart, vice chancellor at USU Eastern. “We felt it was important to reinstate the program as quickly as possible because a lot of completely innocent students had been feeling the impact.”
The police and internal Title IX investigations are still ongoing. The reinstatements were based on preliminary information. In addition to two players on the men’s team, one player from the women’s basketball team has been suspended from basketball activities by the athletic department pending the results of those investigations.
“We anticipate that we will see a police report and a Title IX report in the upcoming weeks,” said Dart. “The information in those reports will help us determine what long-term sanctions might be merited.”
Basketball activities at this time include team workouts, weight training and study hall. Formal practices begin Oct. 1 and games begin Oct. 30.
Players on the men’s basketball team were called together for a team meeting on Wednesday and workouts resumed immediately.