Anyone remember Auston Robertson, part of the Fort Wayne WR corps (along with Austin Mack) that OSU tried to recruit in 2016? I detailed his recruitment and his troubles in a 2017 forum post on 11W back in April of 2017 ...
Well, it seems that the fallout (Robertson got 10 years in prison for raping a girl in an off-campus apartment) was not only limited to him. Apparently, MSU staffers (and former staffers) are arguing about how much Dantonio knew and when. Former MSU Recruiting Director, Curtis Blackwell, is claiming that he was the scapegoat for the Auston Robertson signing, when in reality it was Dantonio who overrode him and D-Line coach Ron Burton. Blackwell's contract was non-renewed by the university in May of 2017, abd he thinks the reason is the Robertson signing. Blackwell has filed suit against MSU seeking monetary damages, and is asking the court to compel Dantonio to testify in the case. The details are in this Yahoo article: https://www.yahoo.com/sports/ex-michigan-st-staffer-assistant-coach-said-he-didnt-want-auston-robertson-on-same-campus-as-daughter-222314517.html
It also appears that Blackwell was also somehow involved in (interfering with?!) the sexual assault investigation of Demetric Vance, Donnie Corley, and Josh King. So, it appears that he is definitely not squeaky clean, either.
It will be interesting to see if there is anything that really comes of this. Will Blackwell be cleared of wrongdoing, get Dantonio to testify, and win his suit against MSU? Will Dantonio retire if it's shown that he was involved in deciding to accept Auston Robertson?
Grab your popcorn ... we haven't heard the last of this sad saga yet.
