Prep football star charged with sexual misconduct admitted to MSU

ASSOCIATED PRESS

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Damon Dowdell, a former star quarterback at Detroit Henry Ford High School, was admitted to Michigan State University after pleading no contest to a reduced charge in a sexual assault case involving a 13-year-old girl.

Dowdell's admission to Michigan State had been on hold since the school learned about the July 1999 offense.

Dowdell and a co-defendant, Lamar Eddington, avoided trial in Wayne County Juvenile Court after Assistant Prosecutor Charles Grant offered the plea deal. Dowdell is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 29 in Detroit.

Dowdell's Henry Ford teammate, tight end Eric Knott, faces charges of first-degree criminal sexual assault in the case, although an admission to police of consensual sex could be thrown out in a pretrial hearing this week, according to the Lansing State Journal.

Knott did not sign a letter of intent but verbally committed to Michigan State before the charges were known.

Dowdell, an All-State quarterback while in high school, signed a national letter of intent on Feb. 2 to play for Michigan State, before his involvement in the case became known.

Although the university enrolled Dowdell Tuesday, his status with the football team remains unclear.

The NCAA, which determines freshman eligibility, must still approve Dowdell. He cannot receive an athletic scholarship or practice until the NCAA makes its decision.

Head football coach Bobby Williams declined comment on Dowdell's situation when contacted Tuesday by the Lansing State Journal.

Terry Denbow, Michigan State's vice president of university relations, told the Detroit Free Press that based on conversation with Dowdell, "a review of his academic credentials and the other information the institution has been able to assemble, the university has made the decision that Damon deserves an educational opportunity here at Michigan State."

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