Three Minnesota Basketball Players Charged With Sexual Assault; Team Will Resume Play

Three University of Minnesota basketball players were charged Monday with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old Madison woman after a Big Ten basketball game and were ordered back to court next month.

The Dane County District Attorney’s Office filed charges of first-degree sexual assault and second-degree sexual assault against two players, Mitchell Lee, 20, of Carol City, Fla., and Kevin Smith, 21, of Lansing, Mich.

A third player, George Williams Jr., 19, of Oakland, Calif., was charged with one count of second-degree sexual assault.

In Minneapolis, university President Kenneth Keller said that after much agonizing, he had decided to allow the school’s basketball team to resume play. At the same time, Keller named former assistant Jimmy Williams, 38, to replace Coach Jim Dutcher, who quit Saturday after the school said it would forfeit a Sunday game against Northwestern.

Lee and Williams were released late Monday afternoon after posting bond of $5,500 and $4,000, respectively. Smith did not post $1,000 bond and remained in jail Monday night.