LiAngelo, LaMelo Ball Turn Pro With Club Team In Lithuania

click to expand

By The Associated Press

A basketball club from Lithuania says it has signed LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball to pro contracts, making LaVar Ball's two younger sons ineligible for college basketball.

The move comes after LiAngelo left UCLA , where he was suspended after being arrested for shoplifting during the team's season-opening trip to China.

LaVar Ball pulled 16-year-old LaMelo out of Chino Hills High recently. His oldest son, Lonzo, is a rookie with the Lakers.

The Prienai-Birstonas Vytautas club, which plays in the Lithuanian league, said in a statement that the brothers will report to the club "in early January."

Their contracts run through the end of the current season. The club's sports director Vilius Vaitkevicius says of the Balls: "We are committed to their long-term success and development as professional basketball players."