Michael Anderson Jr., a member of the University of Arkansas basketball team’s coaching staff, pleaded guilty Wednesday (June 5) in Fayetteville District Court to a charge of driving while intoxicated, court records show.
Anderson received a 180-day jail sentence, but 173 days were suspended, records show. He also was given credit for seven days. As a result, he will not serve additional time in jail, records show.
Anderson also was fined $400 and was ordered to pay $320 in court costs, records show.
Anderson, who receives $30,900 annually as the basketball team’s video coordinator, is the son of men’s basketball coach Mike Anderson. The coach suspended his son indefinitely from the coaching staff on Dec. 3, one day after the younger Anderson was jailed in a DWI arrest.
Anderson Jr. pleaded not guilty on Jan. 18 to the misdemeanor DWI charge and other traffic violations, according to court records. Those other violations were dismissed June 5, court officials said.
The coach briefly addressed the arrest during a media availability Dec. 3, saying he was disappointed and said the family would continue to support the 27-year-old Anderson Jr.
The younger Anderson is in his second season as the team’s video coordinator. He earned four letters playing for his father at Alabama-Birmingham and Missouri.
Anderson Jr. was booked into the Washington County Detention Center at approximately 8 a.m. on Dec. 2 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 2012 and in 2007 while he played for his father at Missouri.
A preliminary police report states an officer saw a white Pontiac run a stop sign at Wedington and Colorado drives 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 states Anderson’s eyes were red and watery and he had slurred speech. Anderson failed a field sobriety test and later refused to take a breathalyzer at the detention center, according to the report.
Anderson was released on a $2,000 bond.
