Damyean Dotson, Dominic Artis, Brandon Austin dismissed by Oregon Ducks

Three University of Oregon men's basketball players who were accused of sexually assaulting a woman this past March have been dismissed from the program, the school announced Friday.

Oregon President Michael Gottfredson said at a press conference that Damyean Dotson, Dominic Artis and Brandon Austin "will not be playing basketball at Oregon again." All three were named in a police report alleging that they assaulted a woman at an off-campus home on March 8. None of the three players were charged with a crime by Lane County prosecutors, the Oregonian reports.

Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said during the morning press conference that Dana Altman will continue to be the team's head coach.

"The type of behavior in the police report is utterly unacceptable and will not be tolerated," Gottfredson said. "We will take this time as an opportunity to make our campus safer, our community stronger and our intolerance of sexual violence clear and unequivocal."

Mullens echoed the president's message, saying that the alleged actions of the three players involved in the incident aren't befitting of a University of Oregon student-athlete.

"It was very clear to us that we didn't want them representing our organization," Mullens said.

Speaking at an afternoon press conference, Altman expressed his deep disappointment in the three players and their actions.

"I'm very disappointed in these players," he said. "When I read the report, I was disappointed."

The dismissal of all three players comes less than a week after The Oregonian published the police report alleging that Dotson, Artis and Austin sexually assaulted the young woman just days before the team played in the Pac-12 and NCAA tournaments.

Mullens said that school officials were aware of the incident during the NCAA tournament but were asked by law enforcement officials to not take corrective action against the players. Altman said Friday afternoon that he was not aware of how significant the allegations were before he and his team departed for their tournament games.

"I didn't know the allegations. I just knew there was an incident. I didn't know the extent of it at that time," he said.

Robin Holmes, the school's vice president of student affairs, said that she could not comment on the status of the players as students at the university, but that students can be expelled for this type of conduct.

Gottfredson says that he has worked with several campus organizations to make sure that allegations of sexual assault in the campus community are dealt with swiftly and appropriately.

"It's my great hope that we as a community can address the broader issue directly, openly and decisively," he said. "We will do whatever it takes to foster a culture of respect and shared values on our campus."