Gophers linked to reports of lewd video suspended rest of season

According to some anonymous posters on a Minnesota fan board, Dorsey tweeted two videos February 26 in which he and an unidentified male were allegedly shown to be having sex with a woman.

The decision means Minnesota will be without three players, including Mason, their leading scorer, during what would’ve been a miracle run through the Big Ten tournament, the Gophers last chance to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Dorsey’s accounts have been taken down and the team and players are not commenting.

The “U” reiterated the constraints against offering any further explanation in a subsequent release on Monday, during Tuesday’s afternoon’s announcement the suspensions had been extended, and during Richard Pitino’s regularly scheduled newsconference Tuesday evening.

Coach Pitino and I have had extensive discussions during the last several days, and I support his decision to suspend three student athletes for the remainder of the season.

“We believe in our culture, and if we’ve got to look to do things better we’ll do them”, Pitino said, when asked whether any change needed to be made to the staff’s recruitment philosophy or process.

Mason, a sophomore, leads the Gophers (8-20, 2-14 Big Ten) with averages of 13.8 points and 32.6 minutes per game. Minnesota plays Wisconsin on Wednesday before wrapping up the schedule at Rutgers on Saturday.

Dorsey was suspended for an exhibition game this season for for failure to meet the team’s academic standards, and Pitino kicked senior guard Carlos Morris off the team following, sources said, a heated practice exchange on February 17. Dorsey, Mason and McBrayer traveled to the game but sat on the bench in street clothes.

“It’s obviously a little frustrating, but what it comes down to is we hold ourselves to a high standard”, King said.

The team has had other discipline issues come up in the past two years under Pitino, starting with guard Zach Lofton being dismissed from the program in October 2014 for failing to meet team obligations.

“We do our best to continue to consistently teach, educate and serve all of our student-athletes”, Pitino said.

The Gophers played Sunday’s game with only six scholarship players.

Pitino started freshman guards Stephon Sharp, who had played in only 11 games to that point, and Ahmad Gilbert.

“[Hearing about the suspensions] was disappointing, but we’re just going to move forward with the guys who will be playing tomorrow”, King said.