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MSU drops football recruiter who was suspended in February

Curtis Blackwell speaking on the Big Ten Network
C/O Youtube
Curtis Blackwell speaking on the Big Ten Network

Michigan State University will not renew its contract with Curtis Blackwell, a school spokesman confirmed Tuesday. The news was first reported byChris Solari of the Detroit Free Press.

Blackwell, a former Detroit high school coach and co-founder of the Sound Mind Sound Body football camp, was brought on staff for his relationships with potential recruits in the region.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbbdnp0lTiw

But he was suspended with pay on Feb. 9th, the same day MSU also suspended three football players who are facing rape allegations. Carol Siemon, the Ingham County Prosecutor, has been reviewing the evidence gathered by MSU Police, but still hasn’t announced whether her office will press charges, a spokesman said Tuesday morning.

Since his suspension, Blackwell’s contract was renewed twice, says MSU spokesman Jason Cody.

But now, Coach Mark Dantonio has “decided to go in a different direction,” Cody said Tuesday. Asked if the timing of Blackwell’s departure means the Ingham County Prosecutor is about to press charges, Cody said no one at MSU would be informed about that.

“We’re not kept in the loop [about the criminal case] over here at MSU. I would have no reason to believe that,” he said.

Blackwell, who was hired in 2013, had the title ofDirector of College Advancement and Performance. He was making roughly $84,000 as of fiscal year 2016, Cody says. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Blackwell spoke about his role at MSU in 2014 on the Big Ten Network. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8HvM-oTnkE

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Kate Wells is a Peabody Award-winning journalist and co-host of the Michigan Radio and NPR podcast Believed. The series was widely ranked among the best of the year, drawing millions of downloads and numerous awards. She and co-host Lindsey Smith received the prestigious Livingston Award for Young Journalists. Judges described their work as "a haunting and multifaceted account of U.S.A. Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar’s belated arrest and an intimate look at how an army of women – a detective, a prosecutor and survivors – brought down the serial sex offender."