Mike Anderson Jr., the son of Arkansas men’s basketball coach Mike Anderson, has been suspended indefinitely from the coaching staff after being arrested Sunday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.
Sports information assistant Phil Pierce said Sunday Mike Anderson was aware of his son’s arrest and would not make a statement Monday (Dec. 3) at the regularly scheduled news conference.
Anderson briefly addressed the issue Monday, saying his son was suspended indefinitely. The coach added he is disappointed and said the family would continue to support the 27-year-old Mike Anderson Jr.
The younger Anderson is in his second season as the team’s video coordinator. Anderson earned four letters playing for his father at Alabama-Birmingham and Missouri.
Anderson was booked into the Washington County Detention Center at approximately 8 a.m. after being pulled over by Fayetteville police shortly after 3 a.m., according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Department website. It is Anderson’s third DWI arrest, with his previous arrests coming in Fayetteville in January this year and in 2007 while he played for his father at Missouri.
A preliminary police report said an officer saw a white Pontiac run a stop sign at Wedington Drive and Colorado Drive before making a turn onto Wedington. The officer said in the report that the car straddled the middle line before pulling into a gas station on Wedington, with the car’s gas tank on the opposite side of the gas pump.
The officer said in the report that he turned on his lights and sirens and the driver, identified as Anderson Jr., got out of his vehicle and approached the officer’s car. The officer said he told the driver to return to his car, and the officer smelled alcohol coming from the car.
The report said Anderson’s eyes were red and watery and he had slurred speech. The report said Anderson failed a field sobriety test and later refused to take a breathalyzer at the detention center.
Anderson was released on $2,000 bond and has a Jan. 18 court date.
