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Affidavit: Josh Jackson threatened to 'beat' woman AP
Published 4:33 p.m. ET March 16, 2017 | Updated 6:59 p.m. ET March 16, 2017
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — One day before top-seeded Kansas opens NCAA Tournament play, court officials release an affidavit that says freshman star Josh Jackson threatened to “beat” a women’s basketball player during a confrontation in December. Douglas County District Court officials released the affidavit to The Lawrence Journal-World detailing statements from McKenzie Calvert and two other Kansas women’s basketball players who witnessed the argument Dec. 9 outside The Yacht Club in Lawrence. The affidavit was filed by police to justify a court (Photo: The Associated Press)
summons Jackson was served March 7; he is charged with misdemeanor criminal damage.
Coach Bill Self suspended Jackson for the quarterfinal game in the Big 12 Tournament that Kansas lost to TCU as punishment for an accumulation of embarrassing incidents. Self has been adamant that Jackson will play Friday when the top-seeded Jayhawks face UC Davis in Tulsa, Oklahoma. NCAA BRACKET: March Madness guide (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2017/03/13/ncaa-tournament-march-madness-bracket-tipsheet/99110882/) Self said Thursday that Jackson won’t face any discipline for anything in the affidavit. He noted the incident involving Jackson and Calvert took place “more than three months ago,” and said Jackson has taken responsibility for his mistakes. “It’s not easy to have your name across the ticker each and every day about something when somebody keeps bringing up an additional thing or two when we already knew this took place a long – quite a while ago,” Self said. Jackson declined comment Thursday. “I honestly don’t see a reason to keep talking about it, I’m sorry, but it’s been said and done.” He added: “I definitely felt I made a couple of mistakes. I definitely could have been smarter. There’s nothing I can do about it now.” The incident began inside the bar when Calvert threw a drink at her ex-boyfriend, Lagerald Vick, another Kansas player. She said she was upset because Vick attended the party with his new girlfriend. Calver told police Jackson followed her to her car and “was yelling for her to get out of the car and that he would beat her ass,” the affidavit says. Jackson is scheduled to appear in court April 12. His attorney did not return a call Thursday from The Associated Press. The affidavit said the bumper, grille, fender, windshield, left tail lamp assembly and driver’s side front door were all damaged, with a total repair cost of about $3,150. Witnesses reported Jackson only damaging the door and tail light, with an estimated damage of $1,127, and District Attorney Charles Branson said Jackson was not charged with felony criminal damage because it couldn’t be proved that the player caused all the damage.
Jackson apologized in a statement shortly after he was arrested and “offered to pay for any damage that I directly caused.” Women’s basketball player Caelynn Manning-Allen told police she tried to restrain Jackson by grabbing his arms and he kicked Calvert’s car before she was able to get him away from the vehicle. Another women’s player, Eboni Watts, said she witnessed Jackson kick Calvert’s driver’s door twice and kick the tail light. According to the affidavit, Self joined Jackson at McCarthy Hall, where the men’s basketball team lives, as he was interviewed by police about 5:45 a.m. the day of the confrontation. The Jayhawks have been dogged by a number of off-the-court problems this season. The most serious is an alleged sexual assault at McCarthy Hall. No suspects have been identified in connection with the incident the night of Dec. 17, though five players are listed as witnesses. Forward Carlton Bragg also was charged with possession in a drug case and was briefly suspended before being granted diversion. Vick was also accused of hitting a female student two years ago, but the school investigated and recommended school probation. And hours after the Jayhawks wrapped up the Big 12 regular-season title, junior guard Devonte Graham was arrested for failing to appear in court. Graham had been ticketed for driving with expired license plates, and said that the car belonged to an ex-teammate and he thought the ticket had been paid. Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.