The Minnesota Golden Gophers leading scorer Trevor Mbakwe is in jail tonight for allegedly violating a harrassment restraining order. The Big Ten’s leading rebounder and UM college basketball star was arrested Monday night. If Mbawke is forced to miss time, the Golden Gophers could be in big trouble without their best player. He also leads the conference with ten double-doubles.
According to the AP:
Police say Mbakwe was booked into Ramsey County Jail on misdemeanor charges Monday after he posted a message on a St. Paul woman’s Facebook page. The woman had previously filed a restraining order against Mbakwe. Bail was set at $500.
Mbakwe leads the Golden Gophers with 13.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. He transferred to Minnesota before last season, but was not allowed to play while facing a felony battery charge stemming from his days at Miami-Dade Community College.
He entered a pretrial program rather than go to trial on those charges, but did not admit guilt in the case.
This isn’t the first time Mbakwe has ran into the law as he missed significant time last season due to an assault case in Miami. Here’s the statement from the A.D.
“We are aware of the charges that have been filed against Trevor,” said Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi. “Until we know all of the facts surrounding the charges it would be premature for us to have any further comment.”