After one of the worst days in Gator football history that did not include them losing a game on the field, there came a small bit of good news last night.
Yesterday, David Jones of the Florida Today reported that the evidence against Harris was shaky at best. Today, a source close to the team told me that this report was correct. When I asked him what his interpretation of “shaky at best” was, he said that he “highly doubts” that Treon Harris sexually assaulted the girl. This statement is bolstered by Huntley Johnson, Harris’s attorney, who said that he will be surprised if any charges were ever filed.
But the source was also very adamant about one thing. He said that there were no video cameras, and no direct witnesses in or near the room. Unfortunately, because of that, Will Muschamp has no choice but to suspend Harris indefinitely until the justice system clears him. And “shaky at best” doesn’t mean that Harris absolutely did not commit a wrongdoing. Keep all that in mind.
That said…
Because of the lack of evidence, it could to be very difficult for the girl for prove anything in a court of law (unless there’s something I don’t know about). By the same token, it’s probably going to be very difficult for Treon Harris to prove his innocence. It may take a couple of weeks for all this to come out, if not more. My source said that while Harris will definitely not play against LSU, (Jeff Driskel would have been the starter even if this whole mess hadn’t happened) he could be back in two weeks if things play out the way he expects them to.
Also: my source laughed at the Independent Alligator report stating that Harris forced his way into the alleged victim’s room. Even if that part of it was accurate, forcing his way into her room (while it doesn’t look good) does not automatically mean an assault took place. Note that in the Alligator’s report (which does say that an assault allegedly took place), the source that spoke to them was not an eyewitness. The source released this not so polite three word statement to me about it: “that’s f—ing garbage”. Forget his lack of manners for a second; that’s pretty confident.
Anyway, the bottom line is that there’s nothing concrete to prove anything either way, and we’ll have to just wait and see. The investigation is far from over, and I will hold off from speculating any further (such as why the girl claimed she was assaulted) out of respect to both parties.
As for the status of the Florida QB situation going forward, well, that’s another mystery. Driskel will get the start against the Bayou Bengals, but there’s no telling how short his leash is due to the lack of game experience of Will Grier. There’s also Skyler Mornhinweg, but we saw how that worked out last year (not well) and thus I doubt he gets playing time unless both Driskel and Grier get hurt.
