An attorney for Kansas freshman Josh Jackson tried to pay the family of a Jayhawks women's basketball player so she wouldn't press charges stemming from a December incident in which he allegedly damaged the woman's car, according to her father.
Tim Calvert, the father of Kansas sophomore McKenzie Calvert, told The Kansas City Star that Jackson's lawyer told the family "money is no object, within reason" if they would let the altercation go.
"They wanted to pay to make it all go away," Tim Calvert told the newspaper. "But it wouldn't have gone away for my daughter. It would have been great for Josh, but not for McKenzie. ... This was never about money for me. It was about how my daughter was treated."
Jackson allegedly kicked McKenzie Calvert's car, causing up to $1,000 worth of damage, outside a Lawrence, Kansas, bar on Dec. 9 after an altercation in which Calvert threw a drink at a friend of Jackson's.
He is facing a misdemeanor charge of criminal property damage. An arraignment on the charge is scheduled for after the basketball season, on April 12.
Tim Calvert said his family was not looking for felony charges against Jackson, which he could have faced if police found he caused more than $1,000 in damage.
"When I sat in the district attorney's office, I told him, 'I would not want a young man to have a felony for car vandalism,'" Calvert said. "We never wanted that. We wanted accountability."
According to Calvert, attorney Hatem Chahine said Feb. 4 that the money would be paid if the family also agreed not to pursue an investigation with the university.
McKenzie Calvert has said she was held out of game prep Dec. 9 and 10 for her part in the incident, but was allowed to play a Dec. 11 game against Rhode Island after her father complained of unfair treatment.
Chahine did not respond to questions from the Star and referred to a previous statement by attorney Scott Boatman.
"Josh has apologized for his actions and has also offered to pay for any damages that he directly caused," Boatman said in the statement. "He looks forward to moving past this so that he is able to focus on school and basketball."
Tim Calvert told the Star he did not view Jackson's apology as genuine.
"He's making it seem like he offered an immediate deep apology and wanted to pay for things and take care of things, and they did not," Calvert said. "No one contacted us before Feb. 4. ... They didn't say, 'How can we pay the auto shop for your car repair?' It wasn't that innocent."
Punishment for the December incident was handled internally, according to Kansas coach Bill Self. Jackson did miss the Jayhawks' 85-82 loss to TCU in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals Thursday due to a Feb. 2 incident in which he was cited for backing into an unattended vehicle and not leaving his contact information.
Jackson, who is averaging 16.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, is listed as the No. 3 NBA draft prospect on Chad Ford's Big Board.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.