Alex Daniels, one of four players dismissed from the Minnesota football team in July 2007 for their involvement in an on-campus incident with an18-year-old woman, has been cleared by athletic director Mike Thomas to play this season at UC.

Daniels, 21, was arrested, but was never charged with a crime. He transferred to UC last year, paying his own way, first at Raymond Walters College, a UC branch campus, and then in the College of Arts and Sciences on the main campus.

According to a July 18, 2007 Associated Press story, Dominic Jones, a junior and one of the best defensive players on the Minnesota team, was accused of having sex with an 18-year-old  woman who was “physically helpless” after a night of binge drinking at a campus apartment in early April of that year.

 Investigators said Daniels used his cell phone to film Jones having sex with the woman. Hennepin County (Minn.) attorney Mike Freeman said that Daniels, and Minnesota players E.J. Jones and Keith Massey also had sex with the woman earlier that night.

“This decision was discussed in great detail,” Thomas said. “Any time you have to make a decision like this you have to analyze it on a case-by-case basis, examine the circumstances and make the determination based on the person’s character and the facts in the case.

“After reviewing the circumstances and his situation, I believe he understands what he did was wrong and has made the necessary changes to put his life back on track. His performance in the classroom and his behavior since arriving in Cincinnati suggests that he is solidly committed to being a successful student-athelte and a productive member of society.”