LAWRENCE, KAN. (AP) - No. 3 Kansas suspended guard Mario Little indefinitely Thursday after he was arrested on charges of battery, criminal damage and criminal trespassing following a pre-dawn fight with his girlfriend and others.
Coach Bill Self announced the suspension of the 6-foot-6 guard, who apologized and said he felt “awful” about the incident.
“He’s been suspended indefinitely and it’ll be significant,” Self said at a news conference. “I’m not going to make any judgments until we see the police report and find out exactly what’s going on. I know he’s been charged with misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal trespassing and misdemeanor property damage. They’re misdemeanors, but they’re still very major and serious in our eyes.”
Self said he hadn’t decided whether he will allow Little to practice with the team, but said if he does it wouldn’t be anytime soon.
Police were called to a Lawrence apartment complex at 2:45 a.m. They said the 22-year-old senior had gone to his girlfriend’s apartment and got into a fight with a 19-year-old man who was there.
Little’s girlfriend fled during the altercation and went to a friend’s apartment at the complex, where she was followed by Little, police said. He is accused of pushing a woman there, then battering his girlfriend after finding her in an upstairs bedroom.
Police said Little also shoved a man who attempted to separate him and his girlfriend before several people subdued Little until officers arrived.
He was arrested on four counts of battery, two counts of criminal damage to property and one count of criminal trespassing. He posted $700 bond and was released Thursday morning.
“I apologize for what happened last night,” Little said in a statement. “I feel awful, and I understand that I will have to deal with the consequences of my actions. I accept responsibility for those actions, and I apologize to my teammates for being irresponsible.”
Little was averaging 6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game for the Jayhawks (9-0).
Senior guard Brady Morningstar said the team needs to keep its focus and not be distracted by Little’s arrest.
“There’s always a lot of distractions throughout the year, but you’ve just got to take them, learn from them, move on and come together as a team a little bit closer,” he said.
Little, a Chicago native, was the 2007-08 Junior College Player of the Year and highly touted when he came to Kansas, but his Kansas career has been something of a letdown. After playing in 23 games in 2008-09, he redshirted last season because of a wealth of talent on the Jayhawks team.
The highlight of his career at Kansas came this month when he made a free throw with less than a second left to beat UCLA by one point.
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