Deal in Ole Miss hoops coach assault case?

CINCINNATI, April 15 (UPI) -- The lawyer defending Mississippi basketball coach Andy Kennedy says the assault charges against his client will be resolved before trial next week.

Mike Allen told the Cincinnati Enquirer Wednesday he would neither confirm nor deny news reports out of Mississippi that Kennedy would plead guilty to a lesser charge; however, he said the matter would be settled on Monday.

Kennedy is the former head coach at the University of Cincinnati and is scheduled to go on trial Monday in Hamilton County Municipal Court on charges he punched a taxi driver and threw in a few racial insults while in town for the SEC/Big East tournament last December.

Kennedy has denied the charges and has filed a defamation lawsuit against the cab driver and a witness to the incident.