One of the women accusing Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault also claims that a member of Duke University's 1998-99 basketball team sexually assaulted her in 1999.
ESPN reports that in a series of statements released Friday through her attorney, Meredith Watson said a former Duke men's basketball player raped her in 1999, though the statement did not identify the player. The Blue Devils lost the national championship game to Connecticut that year.
Watson also has said that Fairfax sexually assaulted her on Duke's campus in Durham, N.C., when they were both students in 2000.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski denied knowledge of the alleged incident.
"I think there was an allegation made, right?" Krzyzewski said after Saturday night's victory at Virginia. "So, I'm not sure that's true or not, but there's an allegation. I didn't find out about it until late last night, and I have no knowledge about it. ... Our university will take care of whatever actions and give whatever information that's needed to be done. I think our [athletic director] has put out a statement that we'll give to you. It's very ... something like that is serious. So, our school looks at it that way, and we'll do whatever we can to make sure that we answer whatever questions are posed to us."
Duke athletic director Kevin White did distribute a statement after the Virginia game. It read, "Duke first learned of the allegations involving a student-athlete last night when they were reported by the media. Coach Krzyzewski confirms that he had no knowledge of the alleged conduct from 1999. The university is looking into the matter and will have no further comment at this time."
A statement from Watson's attorney read, in part, "Ms. Watson was raped by a basketball player during her sophomore year at Duke. She went to the Dean, who provided no help and discouraged her from pursuing the claim further. Ms. Watson also told friends, including Justin Fairfax."
Watson is the second woman to allege that Fairfax sexually assaulted her. Fairfax has been urged to step down.
