The Associated Press

CINCINNATI — Ole Miss basketball coach Andy Kennedy pleaded guilty this morning to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct in his cab driver assault case.

Kennedy avoided trial and possible jail time with the plea deal today in Hamilton County Municipal Court in Cincinnati. He will be on probation for six months and must perform 40 hours of community service.

He was arrested last December when Ole Miss was in Cincinnati for a game against Louisville. The cab driver said Kennedy punched him in the face and called him a terrorist after he told the coach he couldn’t legally fit him and four others into his cab.

Kennedy is still embroiled in civil lawsuits with the driver and a valet who says he saw the confrontation.

Kennedy was at a bar with friends and Ole Miss staff on Dec. 18 and hailed a cab. Mohamed Jiddou, a 25-year-old native of northwest Africa, said the group tried to get into his cab.

The cab driver said he told Kennedy he couldn’t take the entire party, and the coach hit him in the face, calling him “bin Laden, Saddam Hussein.” Police said the left side of Jiddou’s face was swollen afterward.

The case escalated when Kennedy sued Jiddou for alleged defamation, along with a valet who said he witnessed the altercation. Jiddou and the valet countersued.