In December 2019, he was notably excluded from Northwestern's early signees in the 2020 recruiting class.

[10] The alleged sexual assault occurred aboard a party bus on September 15, 2018.

A victim alleged that Atkinson began to touch her inappropriately after she became intoxicated and was incapacitated.

[13] During the fallout of the scandal, a social worker at the school was charged with failing to report child abuse after it was alleged that a victim had told her about the assaults, though she was later acquitted by jury.

[11] The case was reported on by the USA Today, the Denver Post, and the Boulder Daily Camera, among other publications.