A University of Louisville police report states former Cardinals guard Chris Jones sent a woman a text last Tuesday threatening to “smack” her, hours later he was suspended from the team.
Jones, 23, was reinstated earlier this week following the one-game suspension, and then dismissed from the team Sunday. Coach Rick Pitino said Jones was initially suspended for violating team rules. Jones returned to the team after meeting unspecified conditions for reinstatement.
Pitino has not said why Jones was dismissed.
The incident report obtained Monday states the woman went to Jones’ dorm room early Tuesday, but he left. After waiting three hours for Jones to return, she left after “messing up” his room.
The report states Jones later sent the woman a text threatening to “smack” her. No charges have been filed against Jones.
The woman, who stated in the report that she and Jones have been in an intimate off-and-on relationship the past year, did not want him prosecuted. But she preferred that someone talk to him about his behavior, the report said.
The Dean of Students was to be notified of the incident, the report added.
Jones’ dismissal ended a tumultuous week for the Memphis native.
Despite basketball skills that made him valuable to a Louisville team needing his offense and defense, he also frustrated Pitino with questionable decisions on the court and occasional attitude issues.
He did not travel with the Cardinals for Wednesday’s 69-59 loss at Syracuse and watched the game in his dorm room. Jones was reinstated on Thursday after Pitino said “Chris has done what he needed to do” in meeting conditions to return.
Pitino still harshly criticized his starting guard after the game and said his selfishness hurt the Cardinals, calling him a “knucklehead” in one interview.
The 5-foot-10 guard helped the then-No. 12 Cardinals beat Miami 55-53 on Saturday with 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jones was remorseful after the game and acknowledged that he “made a mistake that I shouldn’t have done.”
Asked why he thought he was suspended, Jones said, “it was coach’s decision. It is what it is. I learned from it. Coach called it my selfish behavior of what happened between a situation. It’s just something I learned from — you’ve got to stay away from things like that and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Jones was the Cardinals’ assists leader (3.7 per game) and third-leading scorer (13.7 points).
Louisville faced Georgia Tech Monday night after dropping five spots to No. 17 in the Top 25. Freshman and Louisville native Quentin Snider made his third straight start against the Yellow Jackets and figures to play extensively for a Cardinals team lacking offense beyond its starters..
