UCLA’s Alford to sit 3 players reportedly involved in shoplifting

BEIJING » UCLA basketball coach Steve Alford will sit the three players reportedly involved in a shoplifting incident in China for Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech in Shanghai.

Alford, however, declined to address the issue further.

“The University came out with a statement, so I won’t have any further comment on this other than in answering that question — those individuals won’t play on Saturday,” Alford said Wednesday in Shanghai.

Pac-12 Conference Commissioner Larry Scott issued a statement Tuesday night saying that UCLA basketball players were “involved in a situation” in China, with police being summoned to the team’s hotel to investigate the matter.

“UCLA is cooperating fully with local authorities,” Scott said.

Citing a person close to the situation, the Los Angeles Times reported that freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were involved in a shoplifting incident. Ball is the younger brother of Lonzo Ball, the former UCLA star and current Los Angeles Lakers rookie.

Their father, LaVar Ball, is also in China and told ESPN that he was “going to wait until I get more intel on what’s going on” before commenting.

Police in Hangzhou did not respond to telephone calls from The Associated Press for details.