LUBBOCK, Texas — Texas Tech basketball player Pop Isaacs, the team’s leading scorer, has been accused in a civil lawsuit of sexual assault of a minor when the Red Raiders were playing in a tournament in the Bahamas, ESPN reported Friday night.
The lawsuit was filed in Lubbock County, where the Texas Tech campus is, by the parents of the girl who says she was assaulted. ESPN obtained a copy of the lawsuit, which was not available online.
According to the lawsuit, the girl was 17 at the time of alleged assault. The age of consent in the Bahamas is 16, but the lawsuit says the girl was intoxicated and could not give consent.
The lawsuit alleges a Texas Tech booster bought alcoholic drinks for Isaacs and a teammate. They were in a room with two girls, ages 17 and 16. The lawsuit says Isaacs and the 17-year-old went to another room, where she was sexually assaulted after she “attempted to fight him off,” according to the ESPN report.
According to the lawsuit, Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland was contacted by the plaintiffs Dec. 14 and reported the incident to athletic director Kirby Hocutt and other university officials. Isaacs has played in four games since then.
A Texas Tech spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
The Red Raiders (11-2) played three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, losing to Villanova before beating Northern Iowa and Michigan.
Texas Tech opens Big 12 play at Texas on Saturday.
Isaacs, a 20-year-old sophomore from Las Vegas, is averaging 15.8 points and 3.4 assists per game. He is 10th in the Big 12 in scoring and shared conference player of the week honors this week with West Virginia’s RaeQuan Battle.
Isaacs was third among Big 12 freshmen in scoring last season, when he averaged 11.5 points per game.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
