LiAngelo Ball and UCLA basketball players fly back to US after shoplifting scandal in China
US President Donald Trump intercedes with President Xi Jinping on behalf of LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley
Three UCLA basketball players detained in China on suspicion of shoplifting took a plane back to Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
Larry Scott, commissioner of the Pac-12 college conference that UCLA compete in, said the matter “has been resolved to the satisfaction of the Chinese authorities”.
LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley were detained in Hangzhou for questioning following allegations of shoplifting last week before the team beat Georgia Tech in their season-opening game in Shanghai as part of the annual Pac-12 China game. Ball is the brother of Lonzo Ball, star of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers.
The rest of the UCLA team returned to Los Angeles last Saturday without the three.
There was no immediate word from UCLA on the players’ status for the team’s home opener against Central Arkansas.
The US university said the three players, along with coach Steve Alford and athletic director Dan Guerrero, will make their first public comments about the matter on Wednesday in Los Angeles, but will not take questions.