Dayton senior Dyshawn Pierre, who was suspended by the school for the first semester after a sexual assault accusation, is suing the school.
His lawyer, Peter R. Ginsberg, released a statement to ESPN on Wednesday saying his client intends to sue the school and fight the ruling due to a "fundamentally unfair and defective internal process that deprived him of vital rights and protections and has resulted in a disruption in his education, a drastic blow to his reputation, and a potentially fatal interference with his dream to bring a national basketball championship to Dayton."
The school investigated an allegation of a sexual assault that was said to have happened April 23 and was reported in May, the Dayton Daily News reported. The Montgomery County, Ohio, prosecutor's office declined to press charges "due to insufficient evidence," the newspaper reported.
"What has been done to me has been grossly unfair. The allegations against me are false," Pierre said. "And now I find myself with my reputation tarnished, my schooling interrupted and my dream of helping the basketball team win a national championship being threatened. I want justice, and I want a return to my normal life."
The school said last month that Pierre is not enrolled at the university for the fall semester. Sources told ESPN that Pierre has been suspended but is optimistic of returning to the team for its Dec. 22 game against Miami (Ohio).
Pierre is the Flyers' leading returning scorer, at 12.7 points per game, and rebounder, at 8.1 per game. Dayton won 27 games last season before losing to Oklahoma in the round of 32.
"This University's decision, unsupported by any objective or credible evidence of any sort, flies in the face of law enforcement's determinations about the charge of sexual assault," Ginsberg added in the statement on Wednesday. "The University's investigatory and disciplinary processes threaten to bring shame to this institution of higher education if it is not corrected both for Dyshawn and for the student population as a whole. After being accused of an assault, the University took over five months to reach its flawed decision."