Mizzou's injured Clemons will go from hospital to jail

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Suspended Missouri basketball player Ricky Clemons will go from a hospital to jail for violating work-release terms, after wrecking an all-terrain vehicle while visiting the university president's home without permission on Independence Day.

Boone County Circuit Judge Gene Hamilton on Monday canceled a work-release program for Clemons, after speaking to representatives of the halfway house where the athlete failed to report as scheduled Friday evening.

Meanwhile, the university president, Elson Floyd, said Clemons told him incorrectly that he wasn't due back to the halfway house until late Friday. Floyd said he had befriended the troubled athlete at the request of basketball coach Quin Snyder, and told reporters he would make a similar effort to help any student with problems.

Clemons, 22, was ordered to report to the county jail within two hours of his release from University Hospital, where he remained Monday for treatment of injuries -- including a punctured lung and broken ribs -- from Friday night's ATV accident along a gravel road near Floyd's residence. He was in fair condition.

Clemons has so far served 18 days of his 60-day sentence for a conviction arising from a domestic assault case involving a female acquaintance. He will have to serve the remaining 42 days in the county lockup, Hamilton ordered.

Clemons pleaded guilty June 13 to misdemeanor assault and false imprisonment of a woman last January. The woman, who had dated Clemons, said he choked her and detained her against her will at his Columbia apartment.

He was sentenced to 60 days for false imprisonment to be followed by two years of probation, and he received a one-year suspended sentence for the assault. Clemons' attorney had won court approval for the athlete to serve his sentence at Reality House in Columbia, where he was to stay unless doing school business.

Clemons, a 5-foot-11 point guard, was suspended from the basketball team for one year after entering his guilty pleas. But he has another year of eligibility and still holds a basketball scholarship.

Floyd referred questions about Clemons' future with the team to athletic department officials.

Floyd said he had little contact with Clemons before a call the athlete made last Thursday to Floyd's wife, Carmento. She said he asked whether he could visit the family on the Fourth of July, and she agreed.

The Floyds were hosting a private gathering of family members at Providence Point, the president's official residence just a stroll from the Hearnes Center, where the Missouri Tigers play basketball.

Floyd said alcohol was not served.

He said Clemons, who arrived on foot, told both Floyds that he was not due back at Reality House until 10:30 p.m. Friday. He was actually required to return by 5 p.m., and had not checked in, officials said.

"We obviously had no reason to question his veracity in that regard," Floyd told reporters.

He said Clemons was driving and a visiting 14-year-old boy who is related to the Floyds was riding on the ATV owned by Mrs. Floyd. The president said he had shown Clemons the brakes and other features of the vehicle.

A university police report said the ATV overturned around 9:45 p.m. on a gravel road near the residence. The passenger said "the back end started to go from side to side and the next thing I knew, I'm flying through the air," according to the report, which Floyd distributed.

The ATV turned over, Clemons landed in a ditch and the passenger ran for help, the report said. Clemons was taken by ambulance to the hospital a couple of blocks away. The passenger was treated for a leg injury and released, Floyd said.

Floyd told reporters he did not believe Clemons was driving recklessly, calling the crash an "unfortunate accident."

"My association with Ricky came about as a consequence of a coach calling me, saying that a student was in need. The parallel would be if a faculty member called and said, Dr. Floyd, if you can spend time with another student at the university, would I do it? I must tell you I would make every effort I possibly could to make sure that I support the students within the university," Floyd said.

"I have done that historically and there is nothing wrong with that particular approach. Unfortunately, in this circumstance, an accident happened."

Floyd declined comment about who will pay for Clemons' medical bills or whether he or the university have legal exposure.

Clemons started 32 games and averaged 14.2 points last season. He transferred to Missouri last year after playing in junior college at the College of Southern Idaho.