Jayhawks’ Bragg charged in drug possession case

 

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Kansas forward Carlton Bragg has been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and remained suspended indefinitely Monday from the third-ranked Jayhawks.
Lawrence municipal court administrator Vicki Stanwix confirmed that Bragg was given a notice to appear in court after police said they found two glass smoking devices with residue inside. The paraphernalia was found last month while university police were investigating a reported rape at McCarthy Hall, which houses the basketball team on campus.
The drug case is not related to the alleged rape case at the housing complex, which is located next door to Allen Fieldhouse. Five of Self’s players are listed as witnesses on the police report in the assault case, which involves a 16-year-old girl. Self has said ”we’ve been given zero information that would warrant suspensions or anything like that” in that case.
Bragg’s first court appearance is scheduled for March 3. His attorney, Hatem Chahine, declined comment.
Coach Bill Self suspended Bragg last week. During his weekly availability Monday, Self said ”you can add two and two, so the whole deal, he’s been suspended for violation of team rules.
”When we found out about it, we acted on it immediately,” he said.
Self said there was no collusion on the part of the school and university police in withholding Bragg’s name from public records, and that everything that transpired was out of his hands.
”We don’t have anything to do with how the police does their job, nor would we ever interfere,” he said. ”I would tell you this, Carlton Bragg or your son or your daughter or anybody else who is a student here should be treated exactly the same. I’m not running from that at all.”
Self said Bragg would not play in the Jayhawks’ showdown with No. 2 Baylor on Wednesday night, but he declined to say when the 6-foot-10 forward would be allowed to return.
”Great question and the answer is I have no idea,” Self said. ”He’s not going to play against Baylor. Whether he plays after that, I don’t know.”
Bragg was expected to be a major contributor to the Jayhawks this season, but he’s been a relative disappointment on the court, averaging just 6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds. And off the court, he’s become a major distraction for a team that harbors national championship aspirations.
Bragg was suspended on Dec. 9 when he was charged with misdemeanor battery after allegedly pushing a woman down the stairs. He wound up missing one game before video evidence was found that showed him acting in self-defense. The charges against Bragg were dropped, he was reinstated to the team and the woman who had accused Bragg was charged with battery instead.
The woman, Saleeha Soofi, pleaded not guilty in her court appearance last week.
Self said there have been numerous conversations within the program after the December rape case came to light, but that it was merely to underscore the same messages he regularly preaches.
”We have those conversations constantly, all the time, and certainly we have since then,” Self said. ”The violation of team rules, as it was stated and also backed, it wasn’t in connection with the alleged (rape) incident, but it’s something certainly that was a violation of team rules. We talk to our guys all the time, all the time about stuff like that.”
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Associated Press writer Allison Kite contributed to this report.
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