Morgan Ellison isn’t going quietly, although it may not matter how loudly he shouts.
Late last week, Indiana announced that the running back has been suspended for two and a half years from the university as well as permanently dismissed from the Hoosiers football team. On Oct. 3, an IU panel determined that Ellison had sexually assaulted a female student in mid-August of this year.
Ellison appealed the decision, but was denied. On Twitter over the weekend, Ellison released a very lengthy statement in which he very loudly proclaimed his innocence while also pointing the finger at the university’s process for failing him.
In the statement, Ellison claimed that a text message sent by the alleged victim “demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt” that any sex between the two was consensual.
Conversely, the unidentified victim had alleged at the hearing that she was sexually assaulted in her sleep by Ellison. “It hurt so much and when I woke up I was like stop stop and he wouldn’t stop,” the alleged victim claimed in a text to a friend shortly after the assault.
“The allegations made against me are very serious and should be taken as such. I have always welcomed, and will continue to welcome an honest and fact-based process knowing it will reveal the truth of my actions and character,” Ellison, who accused the university of “rushing the process” and “choosing to follow a politically expedient path,” said in a portion of his statement.
“We will now be pursuing every avenue we can show my innocence,” Ellison added, intimating that a lawsuit could be forthcoming.
Ellison has not been charged criminally in connection to the alleged sexual assault, although it’s unclear if the university’s police department is investigating the allegations.
In late August, Indiana announced that Ellison had been indefinitely suspended from all football activities, including games and practice, by Tom Allen for unspecified violations of team rules. Oct. 2, one day before the panel found him guilty, the head coach revealed that the running back was permitted to practice with his teammates but would remain suspended from playing in games for the foreseeable future.
Last season, Ellison led the Hoosiers with 143 carries for 704 yards and six touchdowns. The true junior had not played in any of the Hoosiers’ games this season before or after the panel’s ruling.
