Illini’s Black can avoid jail
Prosecutors and an attorney for Illinois forward Leron Black have agreed to a deal that would put him in a diversionary program and potentially see his felony aggravated- assault charge reduced to a misdemeanor, allowing him to avoid jail time, Champaign County state’s attorney Julia Rietz said Monday.
Black, 20, was accused of threatening a bouncer at a campus bar with a knife Feb. 19. He initially pleaded not guilty.
Under terms of the deal, Black would have 90 days to pay a $ 200 fine and perform 25 hours of community service, Rietz said. If the does both, he would be allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and face a year of unsupervised probation. The deal must be approved by a judge, and a hearing is set for April 21.
Multiple media outlets reported Vanderbilt will hire Valparaiso’s Bryce Drew as its new basketball coach. Vanderbilt and Drew reportedly are working out an agreement for him to replace Kevin Stallings, who left the Commodores after 17 seasons to become the coach at Pittsburgh.
Drew, 41, has compiled a 124- 49 record in five seasons with the Crusaders. He has guided his alma mater to the NCAA tournament twice and the National Invitation Tournament twice. Valparaiso lost to George Washington in the NIT championship game last week.
Duke forward Brandon Ingram announced he will skip his last three seasons of college eligibility and make himself available for the NBA draft. Ingram averaged 17.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in his only season with the Blue Devils.