Gophers’ Lynch Jailed, Suspended For Sexual Assault Allegations

After enduring a rollercoaster season filled with scandal off the court and mediocrity on it, the Minnesota Gophers were optimistic that the 2016-17 would be a launching pad for the program with several talented new recruits and transfers joining the fray. Sunday afternoon, however, the outlook took another negative turn as promising center Reggie Lynch was jailed without bail on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct, according to a report from the Star Tribune.

Per a statement from the university, Lynch has been “suspended from all team activities indefinitely, pending the outcome of the investigation.”

This is far from the first incident the floundering basketball program has had to endure in Richard Pitino’s three years as coach.

DaQuein McNeil was arrested and released from the program in the fall of 2014 when he allegedly beat and strangled his girlfriend. Carlos Morris, a senior, was kicked off the team late last season after an apparent “heated verbal exchange,” as reported by the Pioneer Press. Soon after, Kevin Dorsey, Jr., Dupree McBrayer and Nate Mason were suspended for the remainder of the season after a sexually explicit video showed up on Dorsey’s Twitter account. Dorsey, a promising freshman, eventually transferred after the season.

The news of Lynch’s latest transgression has people wondering if Pitino’s job is in jeopardy, though the university has yet to name a permanent athletic director, and interim AD Beth Goetz may not be in a position to axe the head basketball coach at this stage of the search process.

Lynch is the nephew of former Gopher and current Fox Sports North analyst Kevin Lynch. He was expected to start immediately after transferring from Illinois State prior to last season. “I believe Reggie could be an all-league center,” said Pitino in January. “I think Reggie’s got a chance to play in the NBA. … Catches everything and he’ll score 50-some percent of the time when he’s down there, and he is very, very hard to guard.”

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