Kansas basketball coach Bill Self is reinstating Mario Little -- just in time for the Big 12 Conference slate of games.
Self announced Monday night that Little had received a diversion agreement on two misdemeanor battery charges, which stemmed from an incident with his girlfriend last month.
"He has not only met the requirements of the court but also the
requirements of our basketball program," Self said in a statement. "One
of those stipulations is his receiving weekly counseling that will
continue through the end of our basketball season.
"We as a program take the events of December 16 very seriously," Self
continued. "Mario made mistakes and exercised poor judgment. We have let
the legal process play out and have been able to evaluate Mario in the
last four weeks in a variety of ways, including counseling. We feel he
should be allowed to rejoin our team for games."
KU Sports reported
that Little got into a fight with a Lawrence man. The girlfriend ran to a friend's apartment, and Little chased
after her. Little allegedly pushed his way into the apartment to
go after his girlfriend, found her in an
upstairs bedroom and allegedly pushed her into a sink. Little is also
accused of pushing a 24-year-old man into a desk. Several people broke up
the fight and "subdued Little until police arrived."
The
19-year-old guy at the apartment of Little's girlfriend reportedly had a
"minor head injury," and Little's girlfriend suffered "injuries to her
neck." Both refused medical treatment.
Self wasted little time suspending Little indefinitely.
In a statement issued by KU, Little said he appreciated the support he's received.
"I have appreciated all the support people have shown me, especially my teammates," Little said in a statement. "I accept responsibility for what took place that evening and have learned from it and feel awful about it. I'm appreciative of the opportunity to come back. The last four weeks have given me time to reflect and reevaluate a lot of things with myself. I certainly anticipate not only handling situations better but also feel I have become a much better person because of this."
"I believe in Mario," Self said. "He has been a pleasure to coach, and I am certainly proud of the fact he only has three hours left to graduate. I'm more concerned about what's best for our program rather than an individual, but in this case I believe he deserves a second opportunity to finish his career in uniform. I have consulted with many people about this, and after a lot of deliberation feel confident this is the best thing to do."
The lifting of Little's suspension comes as the Jayhawks prepare to begin Big 12 play with a road game at Iowa State on Wednesday.
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