Former Kansas University basketball player J.R. Giddens returned from New Mexico on Monday to resolve his role in the brawl that ended his career here.
Giddens pleaded no contest to one count of battery stemming from the May 19 brawl outside the Moon Bar.
Giddens made his first appearance late Monday afternoon in Douglas County District Court, where he waived his right to a trial after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors.
In exchange, the district attorney’s office dropped the disorderly conduct charge he faced.
Giddens suffered a slashed artery in his leg after he allegedly was stabbed by Jeremiah Creswell, an Olathe resident who also faces charges in the incident.
The incident cast a pall over the Jayhawks’ basketball program, which was already reeling from the team’s first-round loss to Bucknell University in the NCAA Tournament. Giddens, an Oklahoma City native, ultimately left KU at the end of June after more than a month of bad publicity related to the fight.
On Monday, the judge sentenced Giddens to one year of supervised probation, which he will be allowed to serve in New Mexico.
His attorney said Giddens would also complete a two-day anger education course at the University of New Mexico.
“Mr. Giddens is here doing the right thing,” defense attorney Debra Vermillion told the judge. “He’s taking responsibility for the small part he played in the fiasco that occurred at the Moon Bar.”