One week after news broke about a possible sexual assault involving Minnesota Twins star Miguel Sano, another prominent Minnesota sports figure has been implicated.
The Pioneer Press reported Thursday night that Minnesota Golden Gophers senior center Reggie Lynch faces suspension until Aug. 1, 2020 for violating the university’s sexual misconduct policy. The suspension would begin Jan. 9, though Lynch can delay it with an appeal to the Student Sexual Misconduct Subcommittee.
This is not the first sexual assault allegation involving Lynch, who was cleared of rape in a 2016 investigation by both police and the university.
According to the Pioneer Press, Thursday’s ruling comes on the heels of an investigation by the university’s office for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EOAA), which deems whether a violation was more likely than not to have occurred.
The incident in question occurred in the spring of 2016 with a 20-year-old student from another university.
Reggie Lynch is able to appeal the decision. But without a reversal, he is banned from the University of Minnesota campus until Aug. 1, 2020. https://t.co/Wg6JQadYBR
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) January 5, 2018
This is the second consecutive school year that the EOAA has made a ruling that put Gopher athletics in hot water. Ten football players were suspended last year for sexual misconduct at a party, but five were eventually cleared.
Lynch set the Gophers single-season blocks record in 2016-17 and scored his 1,000th career point earlier this season. He was averaging 10.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game in 16 starts this season.
Head coach Richard Pitino is scheduled to meet the media at 11:15 a.m. Friday morning. The Gophers face the Indiana Hoosiers at 4:15 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
