College Sports 101

By DAN SEWELL

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Police arrested Mississippi men's basketball coach Andy Kennedy early Thursday after a cab driver said the coach punched him while calling him "bin Laden" and other racial insults.

A pretrial hearing has been set for Jan. 16. Kennedy was charged with a first-degree misdemeanor count of assault, which would carry a maximum sentence of six months in jail for conviction.

Kennedy denied the allegations and his attorney, Mike Allen, entered a written plea of not guilty in Hamilton County Municipal Court on Thursday.

Kennedy, a former assistant and interim head coach at Cincinnati, was set to coach the Rebels against No. 9 Louisville in the SEC/Big East Invitational later Thursday.

"I regret this situation," Kennedy said in a statement released by Ole Miss. "The focus should be on the players and the game, not on me. I vehemently deny the charges levied against me, and am completely confident that I will be fully exonerated of all charges."

The complaint filed in Municipal Court alleges that Kennedy assaulted Mohamed Moctar Ould Jiddou and "punched victim with a closed fist while shouting racial slurs." Kennedy, 40, was arrested at 1:15 a.m., police documents show.

"I just don't think it passes the smell test," Allen said. He said Kennedy did not hit or slur anyone.

Mississippi's Andy Kennedy arrested in Cincinnati....