Kansas dismisses Morris after felony rape charge
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Myron Medcalf, ESPN Staff Writer
Arterio Morris has been dismissed from the Kansas men’s basketball team after he was arrested and charged with rape, Bill Self announced Friday.
Per documents obtained by ESPN, Morris was arrested Friday by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office on a charge of “rape; circumstances unknown,” which is a felony.
“When we learned of allegations regarding Arterio Morris, he was suspended from the Kansas men’s basketball program,” Self said in a statement. “We are now aware he has been arrested and charged, and he was dismissed from the program. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not able to comment further at this time.”
The bond for Morris was set at $75,000 when he was booked into Douglas County jail. Per jail records, Morris was no longer in custody as of 11:45 a.m. ET on Friday.
Morris, a transfer from Texas, was with the Longhorns as they made a run to the Elite Eight last season before he transferred to Kansas this offseason. The school suspended him in mid-September after he’d been the subject of a sexual assault investigation at McCarthy Hall, where KU basketball players live on campus. Although he wasn’t mentioned in the incident report, The Kansas City Star reported that he was the subject of the investigation.
Last month, an 18-year-old woman from Missouri reported an alleged rape in the men’s basketball dorm, per police documents.
Three other players — Johnny Furphy, Elmarko Jackson and Nick Timberlake — were mentioned in the incident report as witnesses and “other,” respectively, but a source told the Star they were not “remotely” involved.
Morris’ suspension this month happened hours after he had entered a plea deal that canceled an October trial that had been set for a misdemeanor assault charge against him. Last summer, Morris was arrested when an ex-girlfriend accused him of assaulting her after they had broken up before the start of last season.
Earlier this month, Chris Gaston, Morris’ agent, told ESPN that Morris would speak “when the time is right.”
