The Kansas City Star has the details on former Kansas basketball player and future NBA lottery pick Josh Jackson’s court-mandated diversion agreement, which stipulates that Jackson has to, among other tasks, attend anger management, abstain from drugs and drinking for a year, and write letter of apology to Kansas women’s basketball player McKenzie Calvert.
Jackson was charged with a misdemeanor count of criminal property damage for a December incident in which he purposefully damaged Calvert’s car during an altercation outside of a Lawrence bar. He pleaded not guilty on April 12, announcing his plans to seek diversion to keep his record clean. His lawyer previously failed to pay off Calvert’s father in early February in an attempt to avoid charges altogether; the Calvert’s declined the payoff, opting to move forward with the case.
The details of Jackson’s diversion agreement—signed on April 26—can be viewed below, via the Star:
- “(E)nroll in and successfully complete an Anger Management counseling course” by Oct. 31
- “(A)bstain from the use of alcohol and recreational drugs during the diversion period”
- “(W)rite and sign a letter of apology to the victim(s)” by June 30
- Complete a minimum of 20 hours of community service by Oct. 31
- “(O)btain a substance abuse evaluation” by June 30 and “complete all the treatment recommendations listed in the evaluation.” If no recommendations were made, Jackson was “required to complete Alcohol Information School” by Oct. 31.
Jackson had to agree to the terms after a December 2016 incident in which he followed Calvert out of a bar after the sophomore threw a drink in the face of Kansas men’s player LeGerald Vick. (Vick was found by the university to likely be guilty of kicking and punching Calvert in the face in December 2015.)
Outside of the bar, Jackson proceeded to verbally harass her before re-entering the bar. He then exited the bar with Vick and a group, following Calvert to her car where he broke her car’s taillight and dented her driver-side door as she attempted to leave. The vehicle suffered $3,150.45 in damages, including cracks in the windshield, but police could not prove that Jackson was solely responsible, helping him avoid the felony charge that kicks in when $1,000 worth of damage has been done.
As part of his agreement, Jackson had to pay Calvert’s father $250 in restitution in addition to court costs and a diversion fee. He also had to sign a “stipulation of facts” that confirmed the above story, per the Star:
“I followed Calvert out, yelling at her and calling her names,” the document reads. “Calvert entered her 2016 Ford Focus, which is registered to Timothy Calvert, and locked the doors. I kicked her vehicle, breaking the left rear taillight and denting the driver’s door.”
Neither Vick or Jackson received any internal punishment from head coach Bill Self, at least none that has been made public—Self even sat in on Jackson’s interview with police. Calvert, meanwhile, was banned from using the Allen Fieldhouse facilities and was briefly suspended for the team’s next game by women’s head coach Brandon Schneider.
If Jackson, a projected top-5 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, violates any portion of his diversion agreement, he will have to pay Calvert the full $3,150.45 in damages.