LiAngelo Ball and two of his UCLA teammates, Cody Riley and Jaden Hill, could reportedly be looking at 20 days of house arrest and permanent banishment from China after being arrested for stealing from a Louis Vuitton store earlier this week in Hangzhou.
The three freshman basketball players are currently staying at hotel in Hangzhou with a UCLA team representative, and they're required to stay there until the legal process is over.
According to Ken Sugiura of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ball, Riley and Hill might serve the "house arrest" punishment at the Hyatt Regency Hangzhou, the hotel where UCLA and Georgia Tech players had been staying ahead of their season-opener in Shanghai.
Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times notes that the players are not currently confined to the hotel, but they obviously won't be playing in Saturday's game against Georgia Tech.
Chinese law doesn't mess around when it comes to shoplifting, and the trio could be stuck in China for days, weeks, or even months, as the legal process plays out. Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel initially reported that a lawyer informed him Ball, Riley and Hill could face three to 10 years if convicted of shoplifting, though it doesn't appear they'll be punished to the fully extent.
LiAngelo Ball is the most well known of the three arrested players, but Hill and Riley are both consensus top 100 recruits who were part of a UCLA recruiting class ranked among the top five nationally. Heading into the season, the UCLA Bruins rank 21st in the AP Top-25 Poll. The Bruins will take on Georgia Tech tonight at 11:30pm ET - the game will air on ESPN.
While LiAngelo Ball is not permitted to leave Hangzhou, his younger brother LaMelo and his father LaVar are currently making appearances in Shanghai, where Big Baller Brand has set up a pop-up shop.
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