Pierre Pierce

In 29 games, he averaged a team-leading 16.1 points, 5.7 rebounds (3rd on the team ) and 3.7 assists (2nd on the team ).

Pierre Antoine Pierce (born June 7, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player.

A former member of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes men's team, Pierce was convicted of several crimes relating to a violent incident with a former girlfriend, leading to his dismissal from the Hawkeyes and eventual imprisonment.

The 6-foot-4-inch (1.93 m) and 195 lb (88 kg) point guard /shooting guard was the highest scoring player on the team at the time of his dismissal.

Pierce was born in the Chicago, Illinois suburb of Westmont, and he played competitive basketball for Westmont High School.

He began attending the University of Iowa in 2001.

In his freshman season (2001–02), in which he started 32 of 35 games, mostly at point guard, Pierce averaged 7.1 points (4th on the team ), 3.3 rebounds (4th on the team ) and a team-leading 3.3 assists per game, while making 16.7% of his three-pointers.

According to DuPage County (Illinois) court records, in June 2001, Pierce was arrested and had to post bail on charges of criminal defacement and mob action for allegedly spray-painting his high school, although Pierce disputes the records.

As he was suspended for the entire 2002–03 season, Pierce's sophomore season commenced in 2003–04.

In September 2002, Pierce was charged with one count of third-degree sexual assault in Iowa City.

He was arrested on October 1.

On September 7, a report was filed by a woman who was treated at a hospital emergency room the day before.

She accused Pierce, an acquaintance, of performing unwanted sex acts on her at a party at his Iowa City apartment on September 6.

According to records, Pierce held the woman's hands over her head and covered her mouth when she tried to scream.

He was subsequently suspended indefinitely from the Iowa Hawkeyes by athletic department officials, which was atypical, as the school usually waits for the legal process to play out before making a decision, but the school took swift action because of the severity of the charge.

To avoid imprisonment, Pierce pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge of assault causing injury in a sexual assault.

He received no jail time, but received a deferred judgment, so the charge was erased from his record after he successfully completed a year of probation, counseling and 200 hours of community service, the requirements of the plea agreement.

He later apologized publicly for engaging in "inappropriate sexual conduct with a fellow student."

Pierce sat out the 2002–03 season after his plea bargain but took it as a redshirt year to avoid losing it as a year of eligibility.

Because there were many people upset over Pierce being allowed to remain on the team and keep his scholarship, two petitions totaling over 3,000 signatures were filed protesting the circumstances of the school's handling of the case.

A petition started by a law school student had 1,873 signatures, while the university's Women's Resource and Action Center collected 1,230.

Amid resolutions urging students to boycott the men's basketball games, the petition had urged season ticket holders to ask the athletic department for a refund or to transfer their tickets to another athletic team, actions Pierce's attorney Alfredo Parrish labeled "absolutely ridiculous" because "[they] don't know the facts" before "[reaching] a conclusion."

Pierce spent that season working on improving his game while he was not competing.

Pierce was back in uniform with the team in August 2003, in a return for the 2003–04 season, in which he led the Hawkeyes on a five-game tour of Australia.

In those games, he averaged 20.8 points a game on better than 50-percent shooting, and almost 5 rebounds per game.

At the time, Pierce was the leading scorer on the team averaging 17.8 points per game, the third-best in the Big Ten Conference, and led the Hawkeyes with 16.1 points a game as a sophomore in 2003–04.

Pierce met with Alford for about 15 minutes on February 15, and Pierce's appeal to have his dismissal reconsidered was rejected by Alford.

Pierce remained on scholarship and was still attending classes.

Pierce's attorney Alfredo Parrish sought dismissal of the most serious of the charges, first-degree burglary, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of up to 25 years upon conviction.

A highlight was a 28-point performance in a 79–70 loss to Michigan on March 12, 2004.

In his final season (2004–05), up until it had been cut short, the junior had been leading the team with 17.8 points, while averaging 5.2 rebounds (2nd on the team ), 4.2 assists, and for a team-high 2.5 steals, this was a marked improvement from 2001–02 and 2003–04, when he averaged only 0.9 steals in each of those seasons.

He had a career-high 31 points and a team-high 3 steals in an 81–69 loss to Ohio State on January 8, 2005.

On January 27, 2005, a disturbance was investigated at the West Des Moines home of a woman Pierce had been dating for 2½ years.

He allegedly choked her, threatened her with a knife and stripped her after an argument over her new boyfriend.

Pierce was also accused of causing damage to her apartment and stealing a laptop and camera.

After police confirmed Pierce was the focus of their investigation, he was dismissed from the basketball team by coach Steve Alford on February 2, with Alford saying that [Pierce had] betrayed the trust they placed in him when he was given a second chance two years prior.

On February 28, 2005, Pierce pleaded not guilty to two charges of first-degree burglary, assault with intent to commit sexual assault and fourth-degree criminal mischief.

Because the first-degree burglary charges and the assault charges are felonies, a conviction would mean Pierce could have been sentenced to up to 56 years and fined $9,000.

In March, he waived his right to a speedy trial, delaying it from mid-May to a later date.

Months later, fresh evidence surfaced that Pierce made more than 200 phone calls to his ex-girlfriend in March and April, which violated a no-contact order.