Report: Two Michigan State Players Accused of Sexually Assaulting Woman

Filed under: Michigan State, Police Blotter, Rumors

Michigan Messenger obtained police report documents that accuse two Michigan State University basketball players of assaulting a woman for about an hour in their Wonders Hall dormitory the night of Aug. 29 and into the morning of Aug. 30.

Prosecutors have declined to further take the case on and the victim is disputing their reasoning for doing so. Michigan Messenger did not name the players because neither has been arrested or charged with any crimes related to the alleged incident.

Although one of the basketball players reportedly validated the victim's story to some extent in the police report -- and the Michigan State Police Department forwarded the report to the prosecutor's office with a recommendation the players be charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct 1 -- County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III has declined to prosecute the case. Dunnings apparently released the police report to Michigan Messenger after it filed a Freedom of Information Act request citing that the names of the accused be reported.

According to Michigan Messenger, Dunnings released a statement on Friday noting that charging a criminal sexual conduct case "requires the element of force and/or coercion." He noted that several prosecutors -- of both genders -- reviewed the case and did not find any of the "necessary elements" needed to prosecute the players.

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Capital One Bowl

The Fighting Irish Matter, Because You Like Them ... or Hate Them

Filed under: Notre Dame

Why do we care? Seriously. Why do we still care about Notre Dame football? Because we most definitely still do.

The Fighting Irish have lost three times this season. After every Irish defeat, each opponent (Michigan, Michigan State and Stanford, respectively) either made its debut or made a jump in both polls.

The Irish have three losing Saturdays in a row. Heck, they're within a Hawaii Bowl of having three consecutive non-winning seasons.

And yet we still care. You still care. Yeah, you, the guy who will write "Who cares about Notre Dame? OVERRATED!" in the comments section below. And you, the one who will write "I hate Charlie Weiss." You care. You may despise Notre Dame, but you don't ignore it. You can't ignore it.

 

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Florida State University

Carlton: On TCU, Boise State's chances; Big 12 behind SEC and Pac-10 but ahead of Big Ten

USC

Former Fan Favorite Mike Anello Now Part of Special Team in Boston

Filed under: Notre Dame

As "The Social Network" is released nationally this weekend, former Notre Dame football player Mike Anello finds himself working just a few blocks from where Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg developed and launched his billion-dollar empire.

"Literally, I work in Harvard Square," said Anello. "One of the co-founders of Facebook, Chris Hughes, is involved with running my company."

Anello, 23, was a cult hero the past three seasons at Notre Dame as the undersized, Rudy-like walk-on who was a dynamo on kickoffs and punts. Now he's part of a special team of venture capitalists in Cambridge, Mass., toiling as an analyst for General Catalyst. He posted a 3.9 grade-point average, majoring in finance, at Notre Dame.

 

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New Mexico Bowl

Michigan State's Dantonio Out of Hospital

Three days after coaching his Spartans to a thrilling victory over Notre Dame--and three days, of course, after suffering a mild heart attack in the wake of that sure-to-be-long-remembered triumph--Mark Dantonio is out of the hospital.

According to a tweet sent out this afternoon by Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis, Dantonio has been sent home. The coach had undergone minor heart surgery early Sunday morning, just hours after his team used a fake field goal--maybe the greatest fake field goal in recent college football history--to stun the Irish in East Lansing.

There has been no word on when Dantonio might return to the sidelines for the Spartans, who are currently 3-0 and looking like an upper-tier contender in this year's brutal Big Ten. The Spartans may not be quite ready to challenge Ohio State for the league crown, but they're certainly more than capable of competing with Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan for those New Year's Day slots in the Capital One and Citrus Bowls. That's a credit to Dantonio, who has turned this program into a winner during his successful stint in East Lansing.

With Dantonio on the sidelines, the Spartans are being coached by offensive coordinator Don Treadwell. Treadwell has been on the Spartans staff for the past seven seasons.

Photo: Mark Dantonio is reportedly out of the hospital after a heart attack scare early Sunday morning. (Getty Images)

NAIA National Football

Pickin' on the Big Ten, Week 5

Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10

When the times change, there are always signs. It was clear that country music was no longer the music Hank Williams gave his life for when words like "Honda" and "sippy cup" started showing up in its lyrics, for instance.

In Monday's Five-Step Drop I pointed out how right now six of the top 18 quarterbacks in pass efficiency play in the Big Ten. It got me to wondering if we've ever seen a time when there were as many good quarterbacks in the Big Ten as there are right now.

I immediately thought of the Drew Brees-Tom Brady overlap in the late 1990s. One of the reasons Tom Brady wasn't highly regarded coming out of Michigan was because he played in the shadow of Brees, who was putting up ridiculous numbers at Purdue. Brady's deadly accuracy was on full display, but Brees was out-passing him by more than a thousand yards.

The rest of the league's quarterbacks in 1999 included future NFL participants Kurt Kittner, Kevin Thompson, Brooks Bollinger, and Antwaan Randle El, who many people don't even know was a quarterback in college. I wouldn't trade those four for numbers three through six in the current Big Ten signal-caller hierarchy, though.

To find a similar embarrassment of riches requires going back a quarter century to 1985. That year, Iowa's Chuck Long was the Heisman runner-up. Other league quarterbacks that season included NFL starters Jim Harbaugh, Jim Everett, Mike Tomczak, and Jack Trudeau. Minnesota's Rickey Foggie never played in the NFL, but he was sure fun to watch and is fondly remembered by those Gophers fans who haven't yet given their Saturdays over to playing Farmville. The rest of the league's quarterbacks weren't quite as notable, but even so, that's a list of heavyweights.

It seems doubtful that there are five future NFL starters playing quarterback in the Big Ten right now like there were in 1985, but this level of across-the-board performance only comes along once a generation or so. Enjoy it while it lasts because, like football season itself, it won't last long enough.

Right. The games.

 

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Ohio State

UNC's Da'Norris Searcy Cleared to Play

Filed under: UNC, ACC

Finally, some good news for North Carolina.

Senior safety Da'Norris Searcy has been cleared to play and will make his 2010 debut Saturday against East Carolina. Searcy, a native of Decatur, Ga., was held out of the previous three games while UNC and the NCAA determined his eligibility status.

 

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Final Four