March 18--Illinois junior guard Kendrick Nunn was arrested Thursday evening and charged with two counts of misdemeanor domestic battery, Champaign police said.
Police issued the arrest warrant after an incident Wednesday evening in which Nunn allegedly reacted toward a woman in an "assaulting and provoking manner," according to LaEisha Meaderds, assistant to the chief of police in Champaign.
A report in the News-Gazette said Nunn was accused of striking the woman and quoted Assistant State's Attorney Steve Ziegler as saying neighbors called police after hearing a woman yell, "Get off me," and a man yell, "Give me my money."
Police did not initially arrest Nunn, according to the report, because he and the woman told police there was no incident. The woman later called police and said Nunn had pushed her and hit her in the back of the head, Ziegler told the News-Gazette. He said police reported seeing red marks on her neck and shoulder.
Nunn was arrested with a $5,000 bond. He is expected to make a court appearance Friday afternoon, Meaderds said.
Nunn's arrest was the fourth for an Illini basketball player since August and the second within a week on domestic battery charges.
Junior guard Jaylon Tate, who also played with Nunn at Simeon, was arrested Saturday and charged with misdemeanor domestic battery. He pleaded not guilty this week and has been indefinitely suspended from the team.
Tate's attorney told the News-Gazette he has emails from the woman, also an Illinois student-athlete, recanting the allegation.
Junior forward Darius Paul was kicked off the team after an arrest for vandalism and public intoxication during a summer exhibition tour of France, and sophomore forward Leron Black is indefinitely suspended after his arrest last month on a felony charge of brandishing a knife during an altercation outside an Urbana nightclub.
Paul had been suspended for the 2013-14 season after failed drug tests and an arrest for public intoxication in Champaign. Coach John Groce welcomed him back for the 2015-16 season, but Paul never played a game for the Illini.
Illinois dealt with a rash of injuries this season and finished with a disappointing 15-19 record, including 5-13 in the Big Ten, to miss the NCAA tournament for a third straight season.
New athletic director Josh Whitman voiced his support for Groce earlier this month.
