Senior guard Hassan Adams will start Saturday at Utah after being arrested early Sunday morning and charged with disorderly conduct at a West Side apartment complex.
Adams, Arizona’s leading scorer and team captain, was cited and released for disturbing the peace after he became non-compliant and refused to leave the area at the Exchange Luxury Student Apartments, 2800 W. Broadway, where Adams lives, according to a police report.
“In this country, the legal system is that you’re innocent until proven guilty, unless it’s an athlete,” Arizona head coach Lute Olson said. “I’m not concerned about it and I think I know a lot about it. He actually had just come into the parking lot at the time and he was not a part of the party…what he was charged with is similar to you getting a speeding ticket.”
Olson said Adams would start unless some new information was uncovered.
Officers went to the apartment complex Sunday after receiving complaints of loud noise, and found at least 200 people in the parking lot, some “dancing on cars” and “consuming alcohol.” A police helicopter reported “several people were possibly fighting in the center of the crowd,” the report stated.
One of the officers on the scene approached Adams and another male when the officer saw the two men arguing in the hallway, the report stated.
The officer told Adams to leave the area and began to disperse the crowd, but Adams began yelling and refusing to leave, and others began to do the same. Adams was then detained and placed in handcuffs, the report stated.
Adams’ teammates did not feel the situation has been a distraction. “I haven’t noticed much difference,” junior center Kirk Walters said of Adams’ demeanor at practice.
“Hassan is a great guy and I have his back,” senior guard Chris Rodgers said. “Obviously he was in a difficult place that night, and I don’t know about the specifics about what happened, but I know he wouldn’t do anything to hurt the team or his reputation.
“So it was obviously just an unfortunate situation and we have to get past it and move on, and I know it’ll make him a better person,” Rodgers said.
A woman who said she was “close friends” with Adams told police she was in a verbal argument with her ex-boyfriend, and Adams got into the middle of the argument as police approached, the report stated. The woman said Adams tried to get her to leave, the report stated.
When officers told the crowd to disperse, she went upstairs to Adams’ apartment, but Adams stayed downstairs. She heard officers telling Adams to leave and heard Adams yelling but did not see the altercation between police and Adams, the report stated.
“I think it was a misunderstanding and I know he’ll be fine,” junior point guard Mustafa Shakur said. “His demeanor has been good.”
The Arizona athletic department is aware of the situation but cannot comment because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, said director of athletics Jim Livengood in a released statement.
“We are aware of the situation. The University of Arizona takes matters like this very seriously, and we are dealing with it in an appropriate manner,” Livengood said in the statement.
Adams, who is averaging 18.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, respectively, did not start Arizona’s game against Houston because he was late to a pre-game meal, Olson said.