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Dayton’s Pierre fighting suspension, allegations

pierre

during the third round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2015 in Columbus, Ohio.

Kirk Irwin

Dayton senior Dyshawn Pierre will fight his suspension and is also dealing with an alleged sexual assault that could be the basis of his first-semester suspension, according to multiple reports.

In a report from Josh Sweigart from the Dayton Daily News, another Dayton student accused Pierre of sexual assault, which Pierre and his lawyer, Peter R. Ginsberg, have denied.

From Sweigart’s report:

In response to a request under Ohio public records laws for records related to criminal allegations against Pierre, UD police provided 15 pages detailing an investigation into allegations that a sexual assault occurred on campus in the early-morning hours on April 23.

The incident was reported in May and the investigation was concluded in June. It then was turned over to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutor’s office spokesman Greg Flannagan said his office declined to press charges “due to insufficient evidence.”


With Pierre now publicly facing sexual assault allegations due to Sweigart’s report, Ginsberg released a statement on Wednesday night, which was first reported by ESPN.com’s Jeff Goodman.

“A false accusation against University of Dayton student-athlete Dyshawn Pierre has recently become the subject of media attention in light of Dyshawn’s semester-long suspension. Dyshawn adamantly denies that he engaged in any inappropriate conduct of any sort. Law enforcement clearly agreed and decided not to pursue prosecution of him. Ignoring that decision made by qualified professionals, the University of Dayton subjected Dyshawn to fundamentally defective and unfair University disciplinary procedures orchestrated to appease a broken Department of Education policy. We will be challenging the University’s handling of this matter in the near future.

Dyshawn looks forward to a full and fair hearing and, ultimately, to vindication. No one -- woman or man -- should be subjected to abuse, and no one -- woman or man -- should be deprived of fundamental rights and fair treatment. We look forward to the truth coming out, and Dyshawn looks forward to returning to the University of Dayton.”


Dayton announced that Pierre was not enrolled in classes over the weekend but the school cited federal privacy laws and declined to elaborate in the statement. The first semester at Dayton ends on Dec. 18, which means if the suspension were upheld Pierre could return as soon as Dec. 22 for the Flyers game against Miami (Ohio).

With Pierre looking to fight this suspension, we’ll have to wait and see how this unfolds and if he’ll be able to return during the first part of the season. As one of the major pieces returning to Dayton from last season’s NCAA tournament team, the Flyers need Pierre’s versatility as he tied for second on the team in scoring (12.7 ppg) and led in rebounding (8.1 rpg).