Three UCLA Players Suspended Indefinitely
The three UCLA players arrested for shoplifting
LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley,
The UCLA basketball team is flying back
LiAngelo Ball, the middle son of LaVar Ball and the younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball, was among three players released on bail on Wednesday morning after being arrested on shoplifting charges in Hangzhou, China, according to ESPN.
Fellow freshmen Cody Hill and Jalen Hill were also arrested and released after allegedly stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton outlet, per ESPN.
The players remain confined to their hotel and won’t play in Friday’s Pac 12-China Game in Shanghai (11:30 p.m., ESPN).
While a Yahoo Sports report indicated the players could face 3-10 years in Chinese prison if convicted of shoplifting, another China expert told ZAGSBLOG the players may get “lucky” with their punishment because of President Trump’s visit to Beijing beginning Wednesday.
“If these players committed shoplifting crimes, they did it at a lucky time,” Zhe Sun, Co-Director of the China Initiative at Columbia University, told ZAGSBLOG.
“China will likely deal with this case in a different way to show goodwill to Trump’s visit.”
Uncommitted senior guard R.J. Barrett of Montverde (FL) Academy and Kansas-bound point guard Devon Dotson of Providence Day (N.C.) highlight a group of American high school players who will travel to China to compete next month in the US/China World Basketball Spectacular.
Montverde Academy and Providence Day will be joined by a third American team, Chaminade (CA) College Prepatory Academy. They will play in a round robin format against several Chinese teams Dec. 6-9 at the Olympic Training Center. A specific game schedule has yet to be released.
The trip was first reported by the Charlotte Observer and confirmed by multiple sources, who are not yet authorized to speak publicly because the event hasn’t been officially announced by the event’s sponsor, Camsing Global, which is covering costs for the American teams.
As part of the overall trip which runs Dec. 2-21, the teams will take in cultural events at Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
