Iowa State F Xavier Foster no longer with team, 'target' of sexual assault investigation
Iowa State redshirt freshman Xavier Foster is no longer with the men’s basketball team and is reportedly the center of a sexual assault investigation by the Ames police department.
Foster, who was a four-star Rivals.com recruit coming into Iowa State, was described as the “target” of a sexual assault investigation, per the Des Moines Register. He has not been charged with a crime and had not been practicing with the team.
“We hold our program to high standards and there are expectations that our student-athletes be accountable both on and off the court,” Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger said Friday in a statement, via the Des Moines Register. “After much consideration, I have decided that this is necessary as we continue to build our culture.”
Foster the ‘target’ of sexual assault investigation
Ames police were called to a local hospital on Oct. 11, 2020, to investigate the alleged sexual assault, per the report, after an 18-year-old woman said she was assaulted early that same day at an off-campus apartment.
The woman, according to court documents obtained by the Iowa State Daily, the school’s student newspaper, believes she was drugged at the party and doesn’t remember what happened.
The woman, per the report, was told she was seen hanging out with Foster. She then reportedly spoke with him over FaceTime and Snapchat, where he told her that they had oral sex behind the building.
Ames police officers executed a search warrant to collect an oral DNA sample from Foster in June. The Iowa State Daily asked the athletic department about the search warrant in July, and a spokesperson for the team told the newspaper that “this is the first thing I’m hearing of this” and declined to comment.
Foster has not been charged with a crime.
“As with any case, we will gather all the evidence and try to take statements from everyone involved,” Ames police commander Jason Tuttle said, via the Iowa State Daily. “Generally, if the victim still wants to pursue things, we will sit down with the county attorney's office and make a determination on if we have probable cause to file charges.”
Foster averaged four points and 1.7 rebounds in seven games for the Cyclones last season. He redshirted after needing season-ending foot surgery in January. He had not been practicing with the team, Otzelberger said, “due to some medical and health” issues.
