University of Kansas basketball player Jalen Wilson has been granted diversion in a case where he is charged with a DUI in Douglas County District Court, his attorney said.
Wilson, 21, of Denton, Texas, had been accused of unlawfully operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, which is a misdemeanor, according to a charging document previously provided to the Journal-World.
Hatem Chahine, Wilson’s attorney, told the Journal-World an agreed-upon diversion had been filed with the court on Wednesday. A diversion is a process whereby someone accused of a crime is “diverted” from the usual legal procedures and instead completes the terms of an agreement, which may include some sort of rehabilitation program or fine. If the program is successfully completed, the criminal charges are dropped.
The conditions of the diversion were not immediately available. The Journal-World has requested a copy of the agreement from the court, but has not yet received it.
Wilson, who was 20 at the time, was arrested hours after the Kansas men’s basketball team participated in a closed-door scrimmage in Tulsa, Okla., on Oct. 31.
As the Journal-World previously reported, jail records showed the redshirt sophomore was booked into the Douglas County Jail at 2:16 a.m for driving under the influence in the 400 block of West 23rd Street. He was released a little less than two hours later, at 4:02 a.m., on $250 bond.
A Douglas County sheriff’s spokesman said at the time that Wilson was pulled over at 1:48 a.m. after a sheriff’s deputy observed his vehicle not maintaining a proper lane in the 400 block of West 23rd Street. Wilson was arrested after the deputy administered a field sobriety test at the scene.
After his arrest, Wilson was suspended for four games — an exhibition game and the first three regular season games, the Journal-World previously reported. Kansas basketball coach Bill Self said Wilson would also do community service during his suspension.
On Nov. 2, Wilson released an apology on Twitter, saying he was “truly sorry.”
“I accept full responsibility for my actions,” Wilson wrote, “and am extremely remorseful in my lack of judgment. I know it wouldn’t be fair for me to ask for forgiveness right now, so instead I plan to show you the true man I am and my true character through my actions and behavior moving forward.”
During a media day session prior to an exhibition game against Emporia State, he emphasized both his disappointment in himself and his desire to make up for it.
“My main focus now is just to really take responsibility and own up to what I’ve done,” he said. “And really just to gain the trust back of the community, my coaches, my teammates, my family (and) everybody in Lawrence. I know I let them down.”
After missing the first three games of the regular season to serve a team-issued suspension, Wilson has appeared in 14 games and made five starts for the seventh-ranked Jayhawks. Wilson has started the last four games for Kansas, and he currently ranks fifth on the team in scoring, 8.4 points per game, and second in rebounding, 6.3.
— Journal-World sports editor Matt Tait contributed to this report.