Indiana Freshman Mackenzie Mgbako To Play Sunday Following Arrest
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana freshman Mackenzie Mgbako will play in Sunday's exhibition game, roughly one week after being arrested.
"He will be playing. He's been practicing, and all that's behind us," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said Friday. "We've got to move forward."
On Thursday, Mgbako was formally charged with one count of criminal trespass by the Monroe County prosecutor's office in connection with an early morning incident Sunday at a Bloomington Taco Bell.
The charge filed Thursday is a Class A misdemeanor, which is punishable in Indiana by up to a year in jail and up to a $5,000 fine. Mgbako, 18, pleaded not guilty, and a pretrial conference has been set for Dec. 4. That is typically when a plea agreement could be announced and the case could be resolved rather than proceed to trial.
Police also arrested Mgbako on a charge of resisting law enforcement Sunday, but the prosecutor's office chose not to pursue that charge Thursday.
According to Bloomington police, officers who responded to Taco Bell at 2:15 a.m. Sunday were told Mgbako was rude and cursing to workers as he was in the drive-through lane and would not leave after he was refused service. The report states officers told Mgbako to leave for 15 minutes and he did not, which resulted in the trespass charge.
Mgbako committed to Indiana in May as a five-star recruit out of New Jersey, and he's expected to play a major role for the Hoosiers this season. At 6-foot-8, Mgbako was a consensus top-10 recruit in his class, known for his ability to score all over the court.
"He's wired to score," Indiana senior point guard Xavier Johnson said of Mgbako. "He's a great scorer. He's a great shooter, and I really think he'll help us in that area because that's one area that we have struggled in the last couple years."
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