3 UCLA players face shoplifting charges on trip; Tech trio cleared

HANGZHOU, CHINA — Three UCLA basketball players were arrested on shoplifting charges in Hangzhou, according to a report from ESPN reporter Jeff Goodman. UCLA plays Georgia Tech on Saturday in Shanghai (Friday night EST) in the season opener for both teams.

Police in Hangzhou — where Tech had been since Saturday and UCLA since Sunday — were at the teams’ hotel Tuesday morning and were seen inspecting the cargo compartment of UCLA’s team bus and acknowledgement from a UCLA spokesman that Bruins athletes were involved in an incident.

The three players are freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill. Ball is the younger brother of Lonzo Ball, the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round pick who starred at UCLA last season as a freshman. The school issued a statement early Wednesday (local time) after both teams had arrived in Shanghai.

“We are aware of a situation involving UCLA student-athletes in Hangzhou, China,” the statement read. “The university is cooperating fully with local authorities on this matter, and we have no further comment at this time.”

Three Tech players also were questioned Tuesday morning, but were cleared. The players were sophomore Justin Moore and freshmen Jose Alvarado and Jon Brown.

“During the questioning, it was determined that Georgia Tech student-athletes were not involved in the activities being investigated,” the statement read. “They will rejoin the team on Tuesday and resume their scheduled activities in advance of Saturday’s season opener vs. UCLA in Shanghai.”

Police inspected the UCLA team bus’ cargo compartment as players on the bus waited to go to practice. After a lengthy delay, players eventually got off the board and returned to the hotel. Additional police vehicles arrived at the hotel around 11:40 a.m. local time.

Meanwhile, the Tech team was set to leave for practice around 8:30 a.m., but players were eventually directed to a conference room reserved for team meals and then were taken to an unscheduled study hall. The three aforementioned players were not present. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■