These damn Balls, huh? Always finding their way into the headlines, one way or another.
UCLA freshman basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley & Jalen Hill were arrested for shoplifting in China. The Bruins are in China for their season-opening game against Georgia Tech.
The university said that they are aware of a situation involving the student-athletes in Hangzhou, China and are cooperating fully with local authorities on the matter.
via ESPN:
One source told ESPN that nearly 20 police officers came into the Hyatt Hangzhou at approximately 8 a.m. local time Tuesday and spoke to multiple players from both Georgia Tech and UCLA. The players, according to the source, were kept in a room for hours and not allowed to speak to any of the coaches.
“They weren’t messing around,” the source told ESPN. “The kids were scared.”
The Georgia Tech players were allowed to leave the room hours later, and the UCLA players were seen getting into a police vehicle around 1 p.m. local time, according to the source.
LiAngelo Ball is the middle of the Ball brothers — born between Lonzo and LaMelo — as well as the least highly-touted recruit. Although on scholarship to UCLA, LiAngelo is not seen as the same type of NBA prospect as his brothers.
As for the other two arrested students, Riley is a 6’8 forward ranked No. 45 overall in the class of 2017 by ESPN, while Hill is also a 6’8 forward named No. 49 by ESPN.
