Now we know a heck of a lot more of the rest of the story.
In late August, Indiana announced that Morgan Ellison had been indefinitely suspended from all football activities, including games and practice, by Tom Allen for unspecified violations of team rules. Oct. 2, 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.
A day after that development, the Indianapolis Star is now reporting, an IU panel determined that Ellison had sexually assaulted a female student in mid-August of this year and should be suspended from the university for a period of 2½ years. The Star wrote that, "[i]n its findings, the University’s sexual misconduct hearing panel concluded that ‘the aggravating factor of [Ellison] engaging in sexual activity while Complainant was asleep, and [Ellison]’s use of force during the incident’” led to the lengthy suspension.
In addition to the suspension, Ellison has been barred from all parts of the university’s campus, barred from contact with the alleged victim and ordered to undergo counseling. Ellison had until today to file an appeal of the panel’s ruling; right now, it’s unclear if he has taken that course of action.
Ellison has not been charged criminally in connection to the alleged sexual assault, although the newspaper writes that "[i]t is unclear if the Indiana University Police Department is investigating what happened.”
A university spokesperson declined to comment on Ellison’s status with the football team moving forward.
Last season, Ellison led the Hoosiers with 143 carries for 704 yards and six touchdowns. The true junior has not played ion any of the Hoosiers’ six games this season.
