The rape conviction of once-promising California prep football star Brian Banks has been vacated following his accuser's recantation.

Banks collapsed and sobbed Thursday in a Long Beach, Calif., court after the prosecution conceded.

Banks had pleaded no contest in the case rather than risk 41 years to life in prison if convicted at trial. He spent six years in prison.

His cause was then taken up by lawyers for the California Innocence Project.

Banks was a rising football star at Long Beach Poly Tech and had
a scholarship offer from USC when he was accused of raping a teen
in 2002.