Indefinite suspension. They won't travel with team, won't dress for home games. All thanked Trump and US government
UCLA 3 players
- Thread starter NYShoreGuy
- Start date
UCLA basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill suspended
2:28 PM ET
UCLA freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill have been suspended indefinitely after returning from a China trip where they were held for shoplifting.
"They will have to earn their way back," UCLA coach Steve Alford said in a news conference Wednesday.
Alford said that the players will not travel, will not suit up for road games or take part in practice while the school performs a review of the situation.
The players were questioned last week about allegedly stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store next to the team's hotel in Hangzhou, where the Bruins had been staying before leaving for Shanghai to face Georgia Tech on Friday. They were released on bail early Wednesday morning and had been staying at a lakeside hotel in Hangzhou since then.
President Trump, who was already on an Asia trip, spoke to President Xi Jinping of China about the incident and the players were allowed to return to the United States on Tuesday.
"These are good young who have exercised an inexcusable lapse of judgment, and now they have to live with that," Alford said.
All three players read statements of apology at Wednesday's news conference.
All three players, Alford and UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero did offer their thanks to the president.
"I'd also like to thank President Trump and the United States government for the help they gave us as well," Ball said.
Riley said: "To President Trump and the United States government: Thanks for taking the time to help us out."
"Thank you to the United States government and President Trump for your efforts to bring us home," Hill said.
Guerrero offered some details on the incident. He said that the players stole from three stores, were arrested and posted bail of about $2,200. That money has since been refunded as charges were withdrawn.
All five people at the news conference also thanked the Chinese police and government for their handling of the situation.
Riley said that he was "embarrassed and sorry."
"I take my responsibility for what I did -- shoplifting," he said. "I didn't just let my school down but my country."
Hill made a point of apologizing to fans
"What I did was stupid. There's no other way to put it. I'm not that type of person," he added
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...ended-indefinitely-china-shoplifting-incident
2:28 PM ET
- ESPN.com news services
UCLA freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill have been suspended indefinitely after returning from a China trip where they were held for shoplifting.
"They will have to earn their way back," UCLA coach Steve Alford said in a news conference Wednesday.
Alford said that the players will not travel, will not suit up for road games or take part in practice while the school performs a review of the situation.
The players were questioned last week about allegedly stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store next to the team's hotel in Hangzhou, where the Bruins had been staying before leaving for Shanghai to face Georgia Tech on Friday. They were released on bail early Wednesday morning and had been staying at a lakeside hotel in Hangzhou since then.
President Trump, who was already on an Asia trip, spoke to President Xi Jinping of China about the incident and the players were allowed to return to the United States on Tuesday.
"These are good young who have exercised an inexcusable lapse of judgment, and now they have to live with that," Alford said.
All three players read statements of apology at Wednesday's news conference.
All three players, Alford and UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero did offer their thanks to the president.
"I'd also like to thank President Trump and the United States government for the help they gave us as well," Ball said.
Riley said: "To President Trump and the United States government: Thanks for taking the time to help us out."
"Thank you to the United States government and President Trump for your efforts to bring us home," Hill said.
Guerrero offered some details on the incident. He said that the players stole from three stores, were arrested and posted bail of about $2,200. That money has since been refunded as charges were withdrawn.
All five people at the news conference also thanked the Chinese police and government for their handling of the situation.
Riley said that he was "embarrassed and sorry."
"I take my responsibility for what I did -- shoplifting," he said. "I didn't just let my school down but my country."
Hill made a point of apologizing to fans
"What I did was stupid. There's no other way to put it. I'm not that type of person," he added
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...ended-indefinitely-china-shoplifting-incident
Trump to UCLA players: Where’s my ‘thank you’?
By Yaron Steinbuch
November 15, 2017 | 11:15am | Updated
UCLA basketball players who were held in China on suspicion of shoplifting have returned to the US, where an indignant President Trump greeted them with a tweet.
“Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!” the president tweeted Wednesday morning.
Trump has said he sought the help of Chinese President Xi Jinping in securing the release of freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley.
The hoopsters were detained in Hangzhou last week amid allegations of shoplifting sunglasses at a Louis Vuitton shop before the Bruins beat Georgia Tech in their season-opening game in Shanghai as part of the Pac-12 China game.
The rest of the UCLA team returned home on Saturday.
“What they did was unfortunate,” Trump told reporters in Manila during his 12-day trip across Asia.
Noting that the trio could have faced long prison sentences, Trump described Xi’s response as “terrific.”
He had raised the issue with Xi at a dinner held during his state visit to Beijing.
“The relevant case involving three students has already been resolved according to law,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said without elaborating when asked about Trump’s discussion about the matter with Xi.
A senior White House official said the players had been given relatively light treatment due to Trump’s intervention.
“It’s in large part because the president brought it up,” the official told Reuters.
By Yaron Steinbuch
November 15, 2017 | 11:15am | Updated
UCLA basketball players who were held in China on suspicion of shoplifting have returned to the US, where an indignant President Trump greeted them with a tweet.
“Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!” the president tweeted Wednesday morning.
Trump has said he sought the help of Chinese President Xi Jinping in securing the release of freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley.
The hoopsters were detained in Hangzhou last week amid allegations of shoplifting sunglasses at a Louis Vuitton shop before the Bruins beat Georgia Tech in their season-opening game in Shanghai as part of the Pac-12 China game.
The rest of the UCLA team returned home on Saturday.
“What they did was unfortunate,” Trump told reporters in Manila during his 12-day trip across Asia.
Noting that the trio could have faced long prison sentences, Trump described Xi’s response as “terrific.”
He had raised the issue with Xi at a dinner held during his state visit to Beijing.
“The relevant case involving three students has already been resolved according to law,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said without elaborating when asked about Trump’s discussion about the matter with Xi.
A senior White House official said the players had been given relatively light treatment due to Trump’s intervention.
“It’s in large part because the president brought it up,” the official told Reuters.
So they'll more than likely be back in time for conference play. They should have suspended them from school and revoked their scholarships. If this was a non-student athlete I would assume they'd have to go before the student council committee and dean who in turn would more than likely expel/suspend them for failing to follow the rules set in the school's code of conduct.
Should be kept in school, suspended from the team for 1 year (no practice either).
Will will be interesting to see when or if the suspension is lifted . Just a few observations from the press conference.
1. No questions were permitted from the media present , which I thought was a mistake. I could understand not allowing the players to respond but the AD and head coach should have taken a few.
2. In the players mea culpa’s they admitted they shoplifted from other stores which makes what they did far worse and not an unconsidered impulsive act.
3. Making the suspension an indefinite one rather then one with a specific return date was a smart move as it blunts the ability of the media to criticize the length of any suspension.
1. No questions were permitted from the media present , which I thought was a mistake. I could understand not allowing the players to respond but the AD and head coach should have taken a few.
2. In the players mea culpa’s they admitted they shoplifted from other stores which makes what they did far worse and not an unconsidered impulsive act.
3. Making the suspension an indefinite one rather then one with a specific return date was a smart move as it blunts the ability of the media to criticize the length of any suspension.
That ain't happening unless there was an agreement with the Chinese.
That said it's a fair punishment.
They should kiss Trump's ass in Macy's window for helping them out. They did the right thing and thanked him.
The State Department had to have got in contact with Lavar and told him to keep quiet.
I think a one year ban is appropriate, but I can't see the school not letting them practice or train with the team. The indefinite suspension makes me think though that they will be back soon, especially if they drop a couple games.
I think a one year ban is appropriate, but I can't see the school not letting them practice or train with the team. The indefinite suspension makes me think though that they will be back soon, especially if they drop a couple games.
Listening to the statements, the three players speak and look like they've been through a communist re-education camp minus the beaten and emaciated bodies.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/95209520-132.html
http://www.latimes.com/sports/95209520-132.html
So the players publicly admit to shoplifting embarrassing themselves and UCLA worldwide. A regular student would be thrown out of school and the door closed. But these Athletes get suspended" until probably the conference play starts. Thats fair fora school located in the republic of California. 
The ole indefinite suspension! For Grayson Allen it was one game. For these players, I agree that they will be back before conference games being. An absolute joke. Getting arrested locally for shoplifting is one thing but to embarrass the school and the country on a foreign land is another. Especially Ball, whose brother is wealthy enough to buy him that.
The other sports star stuck in China jail, without Trump’s help
By Mark W. Sanchez
November 16, 2017 | 12:05pm
Antoinette Brown watched the nation-wide fervor over three UCLA players, watched President Trump intervene, watched as three Americans who would later admit they were guilty of theft come home after a week and a half of living in China purgatory.
For 14 months, Antoinette Brown has been starved for similar justice.
“I’ll thank him,” Brown told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. “If Trump helps us, if he helps Wendell, I won’t stop thanking him. He helped get three basketball players who were guilty get out. I pray he’ll help get my innocent son out. And if he does, I’ll thank him and thank him and thank him.”
Her “innocent son” is Wendell Brown, who’s been sitting in a Chinese jail since a bar fight in September 2016. The former Canadian Football League linebacker was in Chongqing to coach a football team in a fledgling professional league when he went to celebrate a friend’s birthday at a bar. The 6-foot, 225-pound African-American in China was a curiosity, and Brown said at the bar that night, some men asked to drink with him, and he declined. Things escalated, and according to Brown’s side, a man threw a glass bottle at him.
Brown was arrested for hitting a man and allegedly causing him to lose an eye, according to Yahoo. According to Brown, he only lifted his arms to block the bottle-throwing.
That was Sept. 24, 2016. Brown has remained in a Chinese prison since.
“I wasn’t there at the club where it took place, but I was at the bar he came to immediately after the incident,” Alexis Andrews, a friend of Brown’s who was in China with him, told MichiganPreps in April. “He told me everything that happened; how they were picking on him, and how they started off wanting to drink with him. When he was uninterested, they got upset, which is common.”
Brown, 30, finally got his trial in July, which, according to friends of Brown, proved Brown’s innocence. Video surveillance showed he didn’t hit anyone, they said; the man with the eye injury apparently had suffered that previously, not on that night. And yet four months later, there is still no verdict and Brown is still incarcerated and facing three to 10 years in prison. According to Amnesty International research, there is a 99.2 percent conviction rate in China.
As Brown sits, Antoinette Brown stews in Detroit, where Wendell grew up, where he was a high school football star before moving on to Ball State and then the CFL. She and her husband hired a lawyer in China but have not been able to see Wendell, given the cost of the trip. They started a GoFundMe, which has raised about $10,000 but hasn’t brought her son back.
They have had limited contact with Brown, who has written letters, but they say letters containing information about the case were intercepted.
Trump assured the UCLA players, in a much higher-profile case, came home safely. Wendell and family have to rely on a higher power.
“God will assure that the truth will come out,” Wendell wrote Antoinette.
By Mark W. Sanchez
November 16, 2017 | 12:05pm
Antoinette Brown watched the nation-wide fervor over three UCLA players, watched President Trump intervene, watched as three Americans who would later admit they were guilty of theft come home after a week and a half of living in China purgatory.
For 14 months, Antoinette Brown has been starved for similar justice.
“I’ll thank him,” Brown told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. “If Trump helps us, if he helps Wendell, I won’t stop thanking him. He helped get three basketball players who were guilty get out. I pray he’ll help get my innocent son out. And if he does, I’ll thank him and thank him and thank him.”
Her “innocent son” is Wendell Brown, who’s been sitting in a Chinese jail since a bar fight in September 2016. The former Canadian Football League linebacker was in Chongqing to coach a football team in a fledgling professional league when he went to celebrate a friend’s birthday at a bar. The 6-foot, 225-pound African-American in China was a curiosity, and Brown said at the bar that night, some men asked to drink with him, and he declined. Things escalated, and according to Brown’s side, a man threw a glass bottle at him.
Brown was arrested for hitting a man and allegedly causing him to lose an eye, according to Yahoo. According to Brown, he only lifted his arms to block the bottle-throwing.
That was Sept. 24, 2016. Brown has remained in a Chinese prison since.
“I wasn’t there at the club where it took place, but I was at the bar he came to immediately after the incident,” Alexis Andrews, a friend of Brown’s who was in China with him, told MichiganPreps in April. “He told me everything that happened; how they were picking on him, and how they started off wanting to drink with him. When he was uninterested, they got upset, which is common.”
Brown, 30, finally got his trial in July, which, according to friends of Brown, proved Brown’s innocence. Video surveillance showed he didn’t hit anyone, they said; the man with the eye injury apparently had suffered that previously, not on that night. And yet four months later, there is still no verdict and Brown is still incarcerated and facing three to 10 years in prison. According to Amnesty International research, there is a 99.2 percent conviction rate in China.
As Brown sits, Antoinette Brown stews in Detroit, where Wendell grew up, where he was a high school football star before moving on to Ball State and then the CFL. She and her husband hired a lawyer in China but have not been able to see Wendell, given the cost of the trip. They started a GoFundMe, which has raised about $10,000 but hasn’t brought her son back.
They have had limited contact with Brown, who has written letters, but they say letters containing information about the case were intercepted.
Trump assured the UCLA players, in a much higher-profile case, came home safely. Wendell and family have to rely on a higher power.
“God will assure that the truth will come out,” Wendell wrote Antoinette.
According to media reports UCLA is hearing from a significant number of its alumni, and a number of influential ones , as to what is a fair punishment for the three players. What people must remember is that the largest segment of the undergraduate student body are Asian-American with 39% and is one of the largest segments of the alumni and what they think is a fair punishment will play a significant role into any decision that is made.
Sources: UCLA officials debating length of players' suspensions
Bruins head coach Steve Alford announces the consequences LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill will face. (0:41)
9:06 AM ET
The school has suspended the players from the team indefinitely.
Sources told ESPN that university officials are debating whether to suspend LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill anywhere from half of the season up to the full season. Multiple major donors have called the school with their thoughts on the situation, according to sources.
UCLA basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley, who were detained in China during a shoplifting investigation, have been suspended indefinitely.
If the players are suspended for half the season, they would be back around the time the team begins conference play. If the players are suspended for the entire season, there is a chance one or more could decide to transfer. Riley and Hill were ESPN 100 recruits; Ball is the brother of Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, who also played for UCLA.
At a news conference on Wednesday, UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero confirmed an ESPN report that the players shoplifted from three stores, including Louis Vuitton, inside of a high-end shopping center next to the team's hotel in Hangzhou. The players were questioned last week at the team's hotel in Hangzhou, where the No. 23 Bruins had been staying before leaving for Shanghai to face Georgia Tech on Friday. They were released on bail for a total of about $2,200 early on the morning of Nov. 8 and had been staying at a lakeside hotel in Hangzhou since then.
The players will be suspended from the team as the athletic program and the University's Office of Student Conduct review the situation. They will not be able to travel with the team, practice or suit up for home games during that time.
Later Wednesday, following the Bruins' 106-101 home win over Central Arkansas, head coach Steve Alford said: "All the information that we know was given, so now it's just school protocol -- what goes on with student conduct. Once that's cleared, we'll sit as an administration and coaches and move from there."
"I don't know of any internal debate going on," Alford said. "The indefinite suspension is what it is -- it's indefinite right now until the school goes through what they have to go through. They do that with every student, and when that happens, then we'll sit down and we'll make the best judgment call we can about the length of that suspension."
UCLA's trip to China was viewed as more than just an athletic program road trip; it was a goodwill journey for the entire university. UCLA chancellor Gene Block and his wife, Carol, UCLA vice provost Cindy Fan, UCLA engagement director Stephen Tan and UCLA professor Ren Sun all traveled with team to Hangzhou and Shanghai.
"We have heard and appreciate everyone's views," Block wrote in a statement after the players left China. "I want to be clear that we take seriously any violations of the law. We remain one of the world's top academic institutions in large part because of our values and standards, which we work hard to infuse throughout our campus community.
"When members of the UCLA family fail to uphold these values, we review these incidents with fair and thorough processes. In this particular case, both Athletics and the Office of Student Conduct will review this incident and guide any action with respect to the involved students. Such proceedings are confidential, which limits the specific information that can be shared."
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...s-players-liangelo-ball-cody-riley-jalen-hill
Bruins head coach Steve Alford announces the consequences LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill will face. (0:41)
9:06 AM ET
-
Arash Markazi ESPN Senior Writer
The school has suspended the players from the team indefinitely.
Sources told ESPN that university officials are debating whether to suspend LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill anywhere from half of the season up to the full season. Multiple major donors have called the school with their thoughts on the situation, according to sources.
UCLA basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley, who were detained in China during a shoplifting investigation, have been suspended indefinitely.
If the players are suspended for half the season, they would be back around the time the team begins conference play. If the players are suspended for the entire season, there is a chance one or more could decide to transfer. Riley and Hill were ESPN 100 recruits; Ball is the brother of Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, who also played for UCLA.
At a news conference on Wednesday, UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero confirmed an ESPN report that the players shoplifted from three stores, including Louis Vuitton, inside of a high-end shopping center next to the team's hotel in Hangzhou. The players were questioned last week at the team's hotel in Hangzhou, where the No. 23 Bruins had been staying before leaving for Shanghai to face Georgia Tech on Friday. They were released on bail for a total of about $2,200 early on the morning of Nov. 8 and had been staying at a lakeside hotel in Hangzhou since then.
The players will be suspended from the team as the athletic program and the University's Office of Student Conduct review the situation. They will not be able to travel with the team, practice or suit up for home games during that time.
Later Wednesday, following the Bruins' 106-101 home win over Central Arkansas, head coach Steve Alford said: "All the information that we know was given, so now it's just school protocol -- what goes on with student conduct. Once that's cleared, we'll sit as an administration and coaches and move from there."
"I don't know of any internal debate going on," Alford said. "The indefinite suspension is what it is -- it's indefinite right now until the school goes through what they have to go through. They do that with every student, and when that happens, then we'll sit down and we'll make the best judgment call we can about the length of that suspension."
UCLA's trip to China was viewed as more than just an athletic program road trip; it was a goodwill journey for the entire university. UCLA chancellor Gene Block and his wife, Carol, UCLA vice provost Cindy Fan, UCLA engagement director Stephen Tan and UCLA professor Ren Sun all traveled with team to Hangzhou and Shanghai.
"We have heard and appreciate everyone's views," Block wrote in a statement after the players left China. "I want to be clear that we take seriously any violations of the law. We remain one of the world's top academic institutions in large part because of our values and standards, which we work hard to infuse throughout our campus community.
"When members of the UCLA family fail to uphold these values, we review these incidents with fair and thorough processes. In this particular case, both Athletics and the Office of Student Conduct will review this incident and guide any action with respect to the involved students. Such proceedings are confidential, which limits the specific information that can be shared."
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...s-players-liangelo-ball-cody-riley-jalen-hill
Should be interesting. Hopefully they don't call UNC for advice.
UCLA made the right -- and only -- decision for players involved in shoplifting incident
But now we wait for LaVar's next move
by Matt Norlander
A Final Four-sized media contingent crammed into the Dick Enberg Press Room at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday for an anticipated press conference that would reveal contrition, remorse, punishment updates and, interestingly, more details about the international shoplifting incident that linked an infamous college basketball offseason with the captivating start of an unprecedented regular season.
The arrest -- and eventual domestic Chinese release -- of UCLA players LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley has also connected the President of the United States with the family of the most famously outspoken father in the current American sports culture.
"I didn't exercise my best judgment and I was wrong for that," Ball said. "Apologies to my family, coaches, teammates and UCLA for letting so many people down. … I made a stupid decision. I'm grateful to be back home and I'lll never make a mistake like this again. I take full responsibility for my actions."
LaVar Ball now owes Donald Trump a debt. What a world.
President Trump did his usual thing on Twitter Wednesday morning when he conjecture-bragged if UCLA's trio of freshmen would thank him for his role in allowing them to leave China a few days after their teammates did. Riley opened the press conference, and like his teammates, read from a prepared statement. All thanked Trump. (UCLA coach Steve Alford did, too.) All three freshmen owned up to their mistakes, full stop, and thoroughly apologized. None took questions, not even Alford or UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero.
For the players, this was a necessary first public step toward owning up to breaking the law -- and giving thanks for not being detained for weeks or even months in a communist country.
"I feel terrible and I'm sorry to everybody that I've let down," Riley said. "I take full responsibility of the mistakes I've made shoplifting. I know this goes beyond me letting my school down. I let the entire country down. … I can assure you I will never do anything again to jeopardize UCLA's reputation."
For UCLA, this was also about next-stage damage control. What Ball, Riley and Hill did is a deep stain of embarrassment to the school, the type of thing that's easy to joke about from afar but remains a serious issue for the power brokers who work at that university. It's clear UCLA is still trying to get its house in order. Ball, Riley and Hill haven't even been back in the States for 24 hours, and one set of statements isn't going to slow the geyser of coverage and widespread curiosity that will surround the men's basketball program in the immediate future. This story stretches beyond sports coverage. Gossip TV shows and national nightly news programs are baking this into their coverage, in good part because of the Trump factor.
There will probably be another tweet, maybe two, to come from Trump, and because the season's only begun and the players remain indefinitely suspended, the debacle from Hangzhou is sure to go down as the defining event of UCLA's 2017-18 season. This is a probable NCAA Tournament team, but the next few months have been hijacked by three first-year players who will come off the bench -- if they even wind up playing for the Bruins this season.
"What I did was stupid, there's no other way to put it," Hill said. "I hope you can forgive my stupid and childish actions."
The scene at UCLA on Wednesday afternoon was a few shades removed from what Ball, Hill and Riley returned to U.S. soil on Tuesday night, when they got the full-blown Kim Kardashian paparazzi treatment upon leaving LAX.
LiAngelo Ball had actually, kind of amazingly, managed to be a fairly anonymous public figure despite almost a year's worth of headline-creating braggadocio brought on by his father; the success of his older brother, Lonzo; and the blossoming fame of his younger brother, LaMelo. That's gone forever for LiAngelo now. He's no longer famous; he's infamous for this. Riley and Hill have a long way to go to removing this from being the only thing they're known for, too.
It's why the indefinite suspensions all three are facing appear to be the pragmatic, if not mandatory, move. Alford announced the three players would not be practicing, would not be traveling with the team and would not be wearing UCLA apparel during home games. They've got to earn that back, and if Alford's actions match his tone, it's going to be a few weeks at least before any of them don a Bruins uniform.
But now we wait for LaVar's next move
by Matt Norlander
A Final Four-sized media contingent crammed into the Dick Enberg Press Room at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday for an anticipated press conference that would reveal contrition, remorse, punishment updates and, interestingly, more details about the international shoplifting incident that linked an infamous college basketball offseason with the captivating start of an unprecedented regular season.
The arrest -- and eventual domestic Chinese release -- of UCLA players LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley has also connected the President of the United States with the family of the most famously outspoken father in the current American sports culture.
"I didn't exercise my best judgment and I was wrong for that," Ball said. "Apologies to my family, coaches, teammates and UCLA for letting so many people down. … I made a stupid decision. I'm grateful to be back home and I'lll never make a mistake like this again. I take full responsibility for my actions."
LaVar Ball now owes Donald Trump a debt. What a world.
President Trump did his usual thing on Twitter Wednesday morning when he conjecture-bragged if UCLA's trio of freshmen would thank him for his role in allowing them to leave China a few days after their teammates did. Riley opened the press conference, and like his teammates, read from a prepared statement. All thanked Trump. (UCLA coach Steve Alford did, too.) All three freshmen owned up to their mistakes, full stop, and thoroughly apologized. None took questions, not even Alford or UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero.
For the players, this was a necessary first public step toward owning up to breaking the law -- and giving thanks for not being detained for weeks or even months in a communist country.
"I feel terrible and I'm sorry to everybody that I've let down," Riley said. "I take full responsibility of the mistakes I've made shoplifting. I know this goes beyond me letting my school down. I let the entire country down. … I can assure you I will never do anything again to jeopardize UCLA's reputation."
For UCLA, this was also about next-stage damage control. What Ball, Riley and Hill did is a deep stain of embarrassment to the school, the type of thing that's easy to joke about from afar but remains a serious issue for the power brokers who work at that university. It's clear UCLA is still trying to get its house in order. Ball, Riley and Hill haven't even been back in the States for 24 hours, and one set of statements isn't going to slow the geyser of coverage and widespread curiosity that will surround the men's basketball program in the immediate future. This story stretches beyond sports coverage. Gossip TV shows and national nightly news programs are baking this into their coverage, in good part because of the Trump factor.
There will probably be another tweet, maybe two, to come from Trump, and because the season's only begun and the players remain indefinitely suspended, the debacle from Hangzhou is sure to go down as the defining event of UCLA's 2017-18 season. This is a probable NCAA Tournament team, but the next few months have been hijacked by three first-year players who will come off the bench -- if they even wind up playing for the Bruins this season.
"What I did was stupid, there's no other way to put it," Hill said. "I hope you can forgive my stupid and childish actions."
The scene at UCLA on Wednesday afternoon was a few shades removed from what Ball, Hill and Riley returned to U.S. soil on Tuesday night, when they got the full-blown Kim Kardashian paparazzi treatment upon leaving LAX.
LiAngelo Ball had actually, kind of amazingly, managed to be a fairly anonymous public figure despite almost a year's worth of headline-creating braggadocio brought on by his father; the success of his older brother, Lonzo; and the blossoming fame of his younger brother, LaMelo. That's gone forever for LiAngelo now. He's no longer famous; he's infamous for this. Riley and Hill have a long way to go to removing this from being the only thing they're known for, too.
It's why the indefinite suspensions all three are facing appear to be the pragmatic, if not mandatory, move. Alford announced the three players would not be practicing, would not be traveling with the team and would not be wearing UCLA apparel during home games. They've got to earn that back, and if Alford's actions match his tone, it's going to be a few weeks at least before any of them don a Bruins uniform.
About that indefinite suspension ruling, though. It's already drawn some eye rolls, and I get it. Indefinite suspensions are often a default cover move made by a coach or, in some situations, an athletic director. At times, behind the scenes, the suspensions are in fact definite. College coaches have also been known to use the "indefinite" terminology as a way to temperature-check public reaction, then lift the suspension when interest or outrage has faded. This can backfire, too. Mike Krzyzewski was rightfully jeered after turning Grayson Allen's "indefinite" suspension into a one-game sit-down last season, after all the tripping debacles.
UCLA's situation is different. This is not just a coach or an athletic director handing down discipline. Riley, Ball and Hill will have to answer to the university's judicial affairs board. These are people outside the athletic department. Players at other schools have faced elongated suspensions, even expulsions, after violating university policies for other matters. If there are adults at UCLA angry enough at what these freshmen have done, they could rule over Alford's head and take away their playing privileges for the entire season.
And that's to say nothing of what the Pac-12 could decide to do. If UCLA ends up going light with punishment for the freshman threesome, they could still wind up sitting longer. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott has in his jurisdiction the authority to suspend the players further, particularly in league play. These decisions would be made behind closed doors, though, and we're not at that point yet. Also keep in mind that the players, Alford and Guerrero were lavish in their thankfulness for Pac-12 officials' help over the past week.
"As a coach, you recruit these men for a long time and you get to know they very well through the process," Alford said. "These are good young men who have exercised an inexcusable lapse of judgment. And now they have to live with that. They let a lot of people down in the process. ... I would like to again apologize on their behalf. These young men are going to have to prove their words and actions that this who they are. … They're going to have to regain the trust of this athletic department, of this university, and because this was such a high-profile international matter, the trust of the general public."
Alford's right. Each player reading an impressively written statement of contrition doesn't mean suspensions should be lifted. Giving a definite number of games is also not on the table yet, not when UCLA's student code of conduct demands further review of what happened in China.
They're three teenagers who did something really dumb, but Guerrero confirmed this was a three-store crime, not just one spur-of-the-second shoplifting thrill. How about some room for reason and measured rebuke? We can find common ground to discuss this without drifting to either extreme.
But now that we've heard from everyone of note at UCLA, and the President of the United States, we sit and wait for what's to come next. Because while UCLA held its press conference, there was a 50-year-old man flying across the Pacific Ocean, on his way back from Asia. He was almost certainly donning a shirt with "BBB" emblazoned the front, heading straight for LA.
LaVar comin'.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...ngelo-ball-jalen-hill-cody-riley-suspensions/
UCLA's situation is different. This is not just a coach or an athletic director handing down discipline. Riley, Ball and Hill will have to answer to the university's judicial affairs board. These are people outside the athletic department. Players at other schools have faced elongated suspensions, even expulsions, after violating university policies for other matters. If there are adults at UCLA angry enough at what these freshmen have done, they could rule over Alford's head and take away their playing privileges for the entire season.
And that's to say nothing of what the Pac-12 could decide to do. If UCLA ends up going light with punishment for the freshman threesome, they could still wind up sitting longer. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott has in his jurisdiction the authority to suspend the players further, particularly in league play. These decisions would be made behind closed doors, though, and we're not at that point yet. Also keep in mind that the players, Alford and Guerrero were lavish in their thankfulness for Pac-12 officials' help over the past week.
"As a coach, you recruit these men for a long time and you get to know they very well through the process," Alford said. "These are good young men who have exercised an inexcusable lapse of judgment. And now they have to live with that. They let a lot of people down in the process. ... I would like to again apologize on their behalf. These young men are going to have to prove their words and actions that this who they are. … They're going to have to regain the trust of this athletic department, of this university, and because this was such a high-profile international matter, the trust of the general public."
Alford's right. Each player reading an impressively written statement of contrition doesn't mean suspensions should be lifted. Giving a definite number of games is also not on the table yet, not when UCLA's student code of conduct demands further review of what happened in China.
They're three teenagers who did something really dumb, but Guerrero confirmed this was a three-store crime, not just one spur-of-the-second shoplifting thrill. How about some room for reason and measured rebuke? We can find common ground to discuss this without drifting to either extreme.
But now that we've heard from everyone of note at UCLA, and the President of the United States, we sit and wait for what's to come next. Because while UCLA held its press conference, there was a 50-year-old man flying across the Pacific Ocean, on his way back from Asia. He was almost certainly donning a shirt with "BBB" emblazoned the front, heading straight for LA.
LaVar comin'.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...ngelo-ball-jalen-hill-cody-riley-suspensions/
Interesting to me that they admitted to shoplifting since no charges were brought. That had to be a stipulation in the release agreement... that they admit wrongdoing.
They should thank their lucky stars that they were able to button up LaVar.
One year suspension.. and they need to do it soon....the team and university will need to suck up the fact that three of their stars screwed up badly.. there needs to be consequences for their actions. Anything less than a year would be a big mistake in my mind. UCLA needs to step up and not second guess the decision.
I would even go for a probationary period after the year before full reinstatement.
They should thank their lucky stars that they were able to button up LaVar.
One year suspension.. and they need to do it soon....the team and university will need to suck up the fact that three of their stars screwed up badly.. there needs to be consequences for their actions. Anything less than a year would be a big mistake in my mind. UCLA needs to step up and not second guess the decision.
I would even go for a probationary period after the year before full reinstatement.
This is why the lawyers muzzled Ball while in China. Now home the mouth can roar again. Let's see if UCLA stays in bed with him now and in the future with his 3rd son.
LaVar Ball downplays Donald Trump's role in UCLA freshmen's release
2:54 AM ET
LOS ANGELES -- LaVar Ball downplayed his son's shoplifting incident in China as well as U.S. president Donald Trump's involvement in getting his son and two other UCLA players back to the United States earlier this week.
"Who?" Ball told ESPN when asked about Trump's involvement in the matter. "What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."
UCLA freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, who had been detained in China for the past week on suspicion of shoplifting, landed in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening and addressed the media on Wednesday before being indefinitely suspended by the team.
Trump, who returned late Tuesday from a trip through Asia, said he raised their case with President Xi Jinping of China during a visit to Beijing last week.
The players were questioned last week about allegedly stealing from three high-end stores, including sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store next to the team's hotel in Hangzhou, where the Bruins had been staying before leaving for Shanghai to face Georgia Tech on Friday.
They were released on bail early Nov. 8 and had been staying at a lakeside hotel in Hangzhou prior to flying home.
"As long as my boy's back here, I'm fine," Ball told ESPN. "I'm happy with how things were handled. A lot of people like to say a lot of things that they thought happened over there. Like I told him, 'They try to make a big deal out of nothing sometimes.' I'm from L.A. I've seen a lot worse things happen than a guy taking some glasses. My son has built up enough character that one bad decision doesn't define him. Now if you can go back and say when he was 12 years old he was shoplifting and stealing cars and going wild, then that's a different thing.
"Everybody gets stuck on the negativity of some things and they get stuck on them too long. That's not me. I handle what's going on and then we go from there."
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...donald-trump-role-liangelo-ball-release-china
LaVar Ball downplays Donald Trump's role in UCLA freshmen's release
2:54 AM ET
-
Arash Markazi ESPN Senior Writer
LOS ANGELES -- LaVar Ball downplayed his son's shoplifting incident in China as well as U.S. president Donald Trump's involvement in getting his son and two other UCLA players back to the United States earlier this week.
"Who?" Ball told ESPN when asked about Trump's involvement in the matter. "What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."
UCLA freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, who had been detained in China for the past week on suspicion of shoplifting, landed in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening and addressed the media on Wednesday before being indefinitely suspended by the team.
Trump, who returned late Tuesday from a trip through Asia, said he raised their case with President Xi Jinping of China during a visit to Beijing last week.
The players were questioned last week about allegedly stealing from three high-end stores, including sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store next to the team's hotel in Hangzhou, where the Bruins had been staying before leaving for Shanghai to face Georgia Tech on Friday.
They were released on bail early Nov. 8 and had been staying at a lakeside hotel in Hangzhou prior to flying home.
"As long as my boy's back here, I'm fine," Ball told ESPN. "I'm happy with how things were handled. A lot of people like to say a lot of things that they thought happened over there. Like I told him, 'They try to make a big deal out of nothing sometimes.' I'm from L.A. I've seen a lot worse things happen than a guy taking some glasses. My son has built up enough character that one bad decision doesn't define him. Now if you can go back and say when he was 12 years old he was shoplifting and stealing cars and going wild, then that's a different thing.
"Everybody gets stuck on the negativity of some things and they get stuck on them too long. That's not me. I handle what's going on and then we go from there."
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...donald-trump-role-liangelo-ball-release-china
I’m surprised it took this long for LaVar to try to excuse his son’s criminal acts after they were released. How conveniently he forgot to mention that it was multiple stores his son stole from and the fact that because it was multiple stores it constituted criminal intent.
Of course we’ll probably see LaVar on ESPN minimizing what happened in China and the talking heads on ESPN will agree with him of course.
Of course we’ll probably see LaVar on ESPN minimizing what happened in China and the talking heads on ESPN will agree with him of course.
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Trump says he should have left UCLA players in jail
By Mark Moore
November 19
President Trump blasted the father of one of the three UCLA basketball players released after being picked up on shoplifting charges in China and said he should have “left them in jail” after LaVar Ball suggested the president had little to do with helping his son get out of the country.
“Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!” Trump posted on Twitter Sunday.
LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were held at their hotel in the Chinese city of Hangzhou after being arrested for allegedly stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store.
Trump, who was in China as part of a 12-day trip through five Asia nations, said he personally asked Chinese President Xi Xinping to intervene.
But Ball’s father told ESPN that he doubted that Trump played a role in the release last week of the three Bruins.
“Who?” he told ESPN when asked about Trump’s involvement. “What was he over there for? Don’t tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out.”
By Mark Moore
November 19
President Trump blasted the father of one of the three UCLA basketball players released after being picked up on shoplifting charges in China and said he should have “left them in jail” after LaVar Ball suggested the president had little to do with helping his son get out of the country.
“Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!” Trump posted on Twitter Sunday.
LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were held at their hotel in the Chinese city of Hangzhou after being arrested for allegedly stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store.
Trump, who was in China as part of a 12-day trip through five Asia nations, said he personally asked Chinese President Xi Xinping to intervene.
But Ball’s father told ESPN that he doubted that Trump played a role in the release last week of the three Bruins.
“Who?” he told ESPN when asked about Trump’s involvement. “What was he over there for? Don’t tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out.”
Oh great. The two narcissistic pigs that people most want to launch into space are now sparring. The statements above are the definition of “you just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”
But it’s not like we can expect better from either. 2020/impeachment/Lavar's kids becoming irrelevant can not come soon enough.
But it’s not like we can expect better from either. 2020/impeachment/Lavar's kids becoming irrelevant can not come soon enough.
This is why the lawyers muzzled Ball while in China. Now home the mouth can roar again. Let's see if UCLA stays in bed with him now and in the future with his 3rd son.
LaVar Ball downplays Donald Trump's role in UCLA freshmen's release
2:54 AM ET
Arash Markazi ESPN Senior Writer
LOS ANGELES -- LaVar Ball downplayed his son's shoplifting incident in China as well as U.S. president Donald Trump's involvement in getting his son and two other UCLA players back to the United States earlier this week.
"Who?" Ball told ESPN when asked about Trump's involvement in the matter. "What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."
UCLA freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, who had been detained in China for the past week on suspicion of shoplifting, landed in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening and addressed the media on Wednesday before being indefinitely suspended by the team.
Trump, who returned late Tuesday from a trip through Asia, said he raised their case with President Xi Jinping of China during a visit to Beijing last week.
The players were questioned last week about allegedly stealing from three high-end stores, including sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store next to the team's hotel in Hangzhou, where the Bruins had been staying before leaving for Shanghai to face Georgia Tech on Friday.
They were released on bail early Nov. 8 and had been staying at a lakeside hotel in Hangzhou prior to flying home.
"As long as my boy's back here, I'm fine," Ball told ESPN. "I'm happy with how things were handled. A lot of people like to say a lot of things that they thought happened over there. Like I told him, 'They try to make a big deal out of nothing sometimes.' I'm from L.A. I've seen a lot worse things happen than a guy taking some glasses. My son has built up enough character that one bad decision doesn't define him. Now if you can go back and say when he was 12 years old he was shoplifting and stealing cars and going wild, then that's a different thing.
"Everybody gets stuck on the negativity of some things and they get stuck on them too long. That's not me. I handle what's going on and then we go from there."
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...donald-trump-role-liangelo-ball-release-china
Sorry Zags, just about every red blooded American says something similar to the fact when they help someone and the someone who is helped is ungrateful. People say that type of stuff to their own kids. I don’t know what kind of lala land Zagsworld is but it’s a commonly used expression when people are ungrateful.
If you're keeping score, both win:
* Trump's base eats this stuff up and in a tweet battle with Lavar, even Trump looks good.
* Will only help ratings for the Balls TV show.
* Trump's base eats this stuff up and in a tweet battle with Lavar, even Trump looks good.
* Will only help ratings for the Balls TV show.
Liberals can’t stand he’s president, so they react by condemning everything he does. It makes them feel “better”, I’ll assume.
All three players involved expressed that they were grateful and gave thanks to Trump for helping them out. Because one of the player's father is an a-hole a red blooded American has to be a bigger one?
Doesn’t have to. But chooses not to let anyone crap on him.
If the hot dog prices are too much for you don’t even consider buying a pretzel.
Listen finding a good link to watch the game or antenna for the radio are my two top things right now.
Guess my point is we're always complaining about Rutgers threads yet we're spending quite a bit of time on the PAC 12.
Guess my point is we're always complaining about Rutgers threads yet we're spending quite a bit of time on the PAC 12.
Guess what...dems lost the election. Go to your safe space and deal with it for the next 7 years. We had to deal with the previous 8 with the worst President in US history. Yes Obamanation has taken the title from Carter.
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