They're back on the team.

Millersville University said today it has reinstated nine football players who were suspended from the squad two weeks ago amid reports of a sexual assault at a Marauders team party.

The university, in a one-paragraph statement sent to the New Era, said it concluded its investigation Wednesday "and, based on evidence presented, determined that no further action can be taken."

The decision means the nine players will not face sanctions as a result of separate investigations by police and university officials into the reported sexual assault of a 19-year-old female student at a Labor Day-weekend party.

Police dropped their investigation when the young woman refused to cooperate.

The university notified the athletes of its decision Wednesday and allowed them to resume practice with the team that afternoon. Coach Joe Trainer said the nine — five of whom are starters — will "assume a role similar to the role they had prior to the suspension."

"Obviously I'm glad the incident is behind us and that now we can move forward and focus on beating East Stroudsburg on Saturday," Trainer said today. He added that, based on the outcome of the investigation, he felt "no wrongdoing was found."

The university's athletic director, Peg Kauffman, described the probe as thorough and said, "We're happy to have the players back with the program and we're moving forward."

Yet it remains unclear exactly how thorough the university's investigation was. School officials declined to say whether the university interviewed the female student, any potential witnesses who attended the party or staff at Lancaster General Hospital, where the student sought treatment.

The university ordered the players to turn in their uniforms and have no contact with the team on Sept. 13 after Lancaster City Police notified school officials of the reported sexual assault.

The players, whom the university has declined to identify, sat out two games: Millersville's 19-10 win against Lock Haven on Oct. 15, and its 45-0 loss to Indiana University of Pennsylvania on Saturday. But they were allowed to remain on campus and attend classes during the investigation.

The sexual assault was said to have occurred at an off-campus apartment leased by a football player at Hershey Heritage Village the night of Sept. 2. The complex, in Lancaster Township, is patrolled by Lancaster City police.

Investigators dropped their probe nine days ago, on Sept. 18, saying they could not prosecute the case because the victim "no longer wishes to be involved in any criminal proceedings."

"After consultation with the District Attorney, it was agreed that a criminal prosecution could not be possible without the willingness of a victim to appear in court proceedings and offer testimony," Capt. John Flemming said in a prepared statement.

The university's statement today is vague; though it notes the "seriousness of the allegations," it does not address whether its investigation found any evidence that a sexual assault occurred. That fact is crucial because authorities have said most of the people at the party are football players.

Officials with the Office of Student Affairs, which handled the probe, were in meetings this morning and unavailable for comment. Amy Dmitzak, a spokeswoman, said that details of the university's investigation were unlikely to be made public. "These proceedings are all confidential," she said.

Coach Trainer declined to comment on the specifics of the allegations, but said: "The process ran its course, and the players were reinstated.

"I was proud of the way our team handled it, in general, even though we didn't have much success last week. We minimized the distraction. The players involved are just glad to get the incident behind them," he said.

The Marauders, who have won only one of their four games this season, play at East Stroudsburg on Saturday.

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