‘I don’t think John Terry is a racist, I think he said a racist thing’: Kieron Dyer DEFENDS ex-Chelsea captain over his controversial racism row with QPR team-mate Anton Ferdinand … and admits he’s heard racist remarks from white players ‘hundreds of times’

• John Terry and Anton Ferdinand clashed during a match back in October 2011
• Terry was cleared of racial abuse in court but charged and fined by The FA
• Kieron Dyer, a team-mate of Ferdinand’s in 2011, reflected on the incident 

By Jack Bezants for MailOnline

Published: 06:31 EDT, 23 June 2020 | Updated: 07:53 EDT, 23 June 2020

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EAST LANSING – The ongoing investigation by ESPN’s Outside the Lines into sexual assault allegations at Michigan State led to a new development.

In a story published early Friday morning, ESPN reported a Michigan State basketball player has been under investigation for criminal sexual conduct since the fall semester. Citing sources, the report stated Ingham County prosecutors are reviewing the allegation and whether to file charges in what Michigan State University Police classified as fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Following a Michigan State Board of Trustees meeting Friday morning, interim president John Engler was highly critical of the report.

“There was a leaked report that ESPN reported on,” Engler said, “but I think, unfortunately like their other reporting, it’s incomplete.”

Tom Izzo ‘definitely not retiring,’ plans to cooperate with any sexual assault probe

ESPN’s story was based on sources and not a police report. It states that a female student in August accused the basketball player of groping her without her permission and police submitted findings to the prosecutor’s office on Dec. 13. ESPN named the player but MLive.com is not because he has not been charged with a crime.

“The sad thing is, I think we should, probably as a Michigan State community, apologize to this young man and his family who has been named without, at least in that report, any evidence of any wrongdoing,” Engler said. “There was a report of allegations, but let’s say, at the end of the day, there’s nothing there. Where does he go? A lot of people now have read this and (could say) ‘What went on with you?’ His name should not have been public because … the investigation might still be going on.”

The basketball player named in the report has not appeared in a game this season but has practiced and warmed up for games. The player is still enrolled at Michigan State and on the team. Asked about a student-athlete remaining a member of a team while facing an allegation of criminal sexual conduct, Michigan State interim athletic director Bill Beekman said “I haven’t read the story. I think ESPN’s reporting is interesting and can speak for itself. They need to stand on their own two feet.”

Engler said privacy laws prevent him from discussing any details he could know about the allegation. And then he took another shot at ESPN.

“That’s one of the difficulties in dealing with this,” he said. “A reporter can take something that’s leaked, put her spin on it, and run with it, especially from a news media that’s frankly struggling. That’s a great way to be sensationalistic.”

Tom Izzo agrees with John Engler that ESPN report is ‘sensationalized’

Engler’s comments on Friday are part of an ongoing battle between Michigan State and ESPN’s Outside the Lines, led by investigative reporter Paula Lavigne. The network began investigating 10 universities for a 2014 story and sought police reports involving football and basketball players from the previous six years. Michigan State redacted the names of the players in university police reports, which ESPN challenged in court and won. When the company sent an additional records request in 2017, Michigan State sued ESPN to prevent releasing the information, but lost again in court.

Just a couple hours after Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis resigned on Jan. 26, ESPN published a report questioning how the university handled complaints of sexual assault, violence and gender discrimination. It tied in disgraced former university sports medicine doctor Larry Nassar, who is headed to prison for the rest of his life for sexually assaulting girls and women, and allegations that football coach Mark Dantonio and basketball coach Tom Izzo mishandled sexual assault complaints against their players.

Mark Dantonio gets contract extension, backing from Michigan State president, interim AD

Dantonio denied he ever individually handled a sexual assault complaint while Izzo said he always has and will cooperate with investigations. Dantonio on Friday had his rolling six-year contract extended by another year, which is scheduled to happen each January and now runs through 2024. Engler defended Dantonio as “one of the most honorable coaches” in the country and then slammed ESPN again amid the latest report.

“If a reporter has an agenda, and we’ve got one who does,” Engler said, “you can cherry pick your facts to write a fanciful tale and leave an impression, even if you read carefully, nothing is ever really said.”

The felony assault case against suspended N.C. State basketball player Markell Johnson has been continued until Jan. 8, according to his attorney’s office.

Johnson and three other defendants were in court Thursday morning for a pretrial conference at the Cuyahoga (Ohio) County Justice Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The four are charged with assaulting Michael Blackwell, 37, in Cleveland on Oct. 8.

Johnson, Demarious Green, Michael Melton and Johnnie Pullum were indicted on Dec. 5. Each was jailed on Dec. 20, ordered to supply a DNA sample and released on $5,000 bond.

According to the Cleveland police report, Blackwell suffered a broken left orbital bone and a concussion. He posted a photo of himself, bloodied, on Facebook on Oct. 8.

When contacted Thursday in Cleveland, Blackwell declined to comment.

Johnson, 19, and his attorney have not responded to requests for comment.

Johnson, was N.C. State’s starting guard for the first 10 games this season and played Dec. 9 against Missouri-Kansas City in the game at Reynolds Coliseum. An NCSU spokesman said Thursday the school did not learn of the indictment until Dec. 14, announcing on Dec. 16 that Johnson had been suspended indefinitely for violating the school’s student-athlete code of conduct.

“We acted appropriately as soon as we found out about it,” Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts said Thursday.

Johnson sat on the sideline, not in uniform, for the Wolfpack’s game against UNC Greensboro that day.

Keatts said he has had contact with Johnson but did not comment on what was said between the two.

According to the school’s code of conduct, a student-athlete charged with a felony crime will be immediately and indefinitely suspended from athletics participation, pending the final disposition of all charges.

In Ohio, a felonious assault is defined as “knowingly causing serious physical harm to another person” and is a second-degree felony unless the victim is a law-enforcement officer.

While Johnson was indicted in Cuyahoga County on Dec. 5 – and played for N.C. State four days later – the structure of the Ohio court system might have caused some of the confusion on Johnson’s end.

Cuyahoga County sent a certified letter to Johnson’s Cleveland address on Dec. 5 to notify Johnson of the charges and his court date. Johnson wasn’t in Ohio on Dec. 11, when the letter was signed for at the home address.

In the North Carolina court system, Johnson would have been arrested and taken before a magistrate to determine bond conditions on the same day. The felony charge would have triggered the automatic suspension under the athletic department’s rules.

The Wolfpack faces Clemson on Saturday in its ACC opener and plays Notre Dame (Jan. 3) and Duke (Jan. 6) before Johnson’s pretrial hearing.

Wolfpack junior Torin Dorn said the players are not aware of all the details of Johnson’s case.

“We don’t know a lot that’s going on, either,” Dorn said Thursday. “We’re just hoping for the best for him in his situation and praying for him. We hope his situation gets figured out and he’ll be back with us, hopefully.”