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James Franklin apologizes for handling of Jameial Lyons, Kaveion Keys questions

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•10/26/24•

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Penn State head coach James Franklin (File photo: Nate Bauer/BWI)

Former Penn State players Jameial Lyons and Kaveion Keys are both facing felony charges in an incident that occurred last July. This news broke before James Franklin was set to speak with the media on Wednesday but he refused to answer questions on the matter. If one was asked, he would walk out for a brief moment before returning to the microphone.

A few days later, Franklin has now apologized for his actions. His press conference following the win against Wisconsin on Saturday ended by saying he did not handle the situation well, needing to learn and “get better” from the moment moving forward.

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“Difficult, difficult situation,” Franklin said. “And I got to own that I did not do a good job of that. I understand you guys got a job to do. You got to ask those questions and I respect that. The University put out a statement and the reality is, there’s not a whole lot more I can say other than that statement.

“It’s an ongoing legal situation and it’s challenging on everybody. At the end of the day, I did not do a good job handling that situation and representing this program the right way. So, I wanted to take a minute and apologize for that.”

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Lyons and Keys are both facing criminal charges related to an incident that occurred last July, according to BWI’s Greg Pickel. Lyons is facing charges of rape, aggravated indecent assault without consent, indecent assault, voluntary deviant sexual intercourse and invasion of privacy. The charges against Keys include rape, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault.

Penn State announced both players were on “indefinite suspension” on July 31 and they were no longer with the program Aug. 3. The university released a statement Tuesday acknowledging the charges and confirmed neither player is enrolled anymore.

No questions on the matter were asked on Saturday as Franklin walked out after his apology. He is set to be in front of the media once again in a few days as Penn State enters Ohio State week.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report