A woman who accused Virginia lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax of sexual assault says that former Duke basketball and NBA player Corey Maggette raped her while they were in college, the New York Times reports.

Meredith Watson said last Friday that Fairfax raped her while the two were students at Duke 19 years ago. Watson also said on Friday that an unnamed Duke basketball player raped her in 1999, and that Fairfax knew about it when he allegedly assaulted her.

NY Times identifies Maggette as Watson’s accused rapist

On Monday, the Times identified the alleged attacker as Maggette, citing a childhood friend of Watson’s. The Times reports that the friend said Watson told multiple friends years prior to the Fairfax allegation that Maggette had raped her in college.

R. Stanton Jones, a childhood friend of Watson’s and a Washington law partner, told the Times that Watson told him in 2001 that Maggette had raped her.

View photos Cory Maggette has denied allegations that he raped a Duke student while he was a basketball player for the Blue Devils. (Getty) More

“Meredith told me she had been raped twice at Duke,” Mr. Jones said. “And she told me that one of the men who raped her was the Duke basketball player Corey Maggette. That was a name I knew because I’m a basketball fan.”

The Times also cited Facebook messages from 2017 provided by Watson spokeswoman Karen Kessler that it could not independently verify.

Maggette ‘categorically’ denies allegation

The Times reached out to Maggette, who denied the allegations in a statement.

“It has only been through media accounts and a statement from Meredith Watson’s lawyer that I first learned or heard of anything about these sexual assault allegations,” Mr. Maggette said in a statement. “I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my life and I completely and categorically deny any such charge.”

Maggette played on Final Four team, in NBA

Maggette played for Duke during the 1998-99 season that saw the Blue Devils lose to Connecticut in the national championship game. Maggette played 14 seasons in the NBA and is currently an analyst for Fox Sports West covering the Los Angeles Clippers.

Maggette was absent from Monday’s broadcast of the Clippers game against the Minnesota Timberwolves for reported “personal reasons.”

A Fox Sports West spokesman addressed the allegations when prompted by the Times.

“Fox Sports takes allegations of misconduct seriously, and we are looking into the matter,” a spokesman said. We have no further comment at this time.”

View photos Meredith Watson says that Virginia lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax raped her while they were students at Duke. (Getty) More

Scandal in Virginia

Watson is the second woman to accuse Fairfax of raping her, calling the alleged attack “premeditated and aggressive.” Fairfax is under pressure to step down from his job as lieutenant governor, labeling the accusation part of a “vicious and coordinated smear campaign.”

The accusations are part of a larger scandal that has engulfed Virginia state politics, with calls for Governor Ralph Northam to resign after racist yearbook photos from college surfaced.

Watson’s attorney: Duke dean ‘provided no help’

Duke acknowledged the accusations of an unnamed player being accused of rape on Friday, telling USA Today that school officials were “looking into” the matter.

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