Sexual Assault Trial Delayed

TYLER — The departed assistant basketball coach from Bishop Gorman has had his attempted sexual assault trial delayed one week. According to our news partner KETK, Jakeal Lockett, 25, is accused of breaking into a UT Tyler student’s apartment last February with the intent to sexually assault her. His trial was scheduled to start on Monday, but 7th District Court Judge Kerry Russell gave him a one-week continuance because his attorney would be “unavailable.” Lockett was an assistant men’s basketball coach and the head middle school boy’s coach at Bishop Gorman. The school released a statement at the time of his arrest that Lockett would be placed on indefinite leave and would not be allowed to have contact with students.

He is no longer listed on the Gorman website as an employed coach. The school said that this is normal because assistants are hired on a year-by-year basis. The incident occurred just one week before the Gorman men’s team made a historic run to the State Final Four for the first time in nearly 30 years. Former player Jake Smith, who now plays football for Texas A&M, in a since-deleted tweet expressed support for Lockett and wanted to wait for the facts to come out. Lockett has been held in the Smith County jail on a $250,000 bond since being arrested on March 4. If convicted, he faces between 5-99 years in prison.