Ex-Vanderbilt player facing rape charges signs with D-II program
Brandon Banks, one of four former Vanderbilt players charged with raping an unconscious female student in June 2013, has joined another football program.
According to a report from the Tennessean, Banks, 21, will play this season at D-II Lane College in Jackson, Tenn.
From the report:
Lane President Logan Hampton confirmed Banks’ signing with the Division II school on Monday night. Banks signed to play at Butte (Calif.) College in September 2014, but was dismissed because his pending criminal charges violated the school’s student-athlete code of conduct.
Banks is facing five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. No trial date is currently set.
Banks redshirted at Vanderbilt in 2012 and is set to play in Lane College’s season opener against Concordia College-Selma on Sept. 5.
Two of the other four players, Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Batey, were convicted of aggravated rape and aggravated sexual battery after a 12-day jury trial in January. However, a mistrial was declared in June after a judge ruled that one of the jurors in the case was biased.
A second trial for Vandenburg and Batey is scheduled for Nov. 30.
The fourth former Vandy player involved, Jaborian McKenzie, also awaits trial. McKenzie played at Alcorn State for a short time in 2013, but was later dismissed from the program after the university president said the school “failed to sufficiently examine the allegations” against him.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
