Shavelle Denise Little, of Marysville, has been indicted for an November incident when she allegedly broke in and attacked a former girlfriend. Little is a former Ohio State University basketball star and two-time All-Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year. She also worked at the Ohio Reformatory for Women until her termination following the November incident. (Photo submitted)
A former Buckeye basketball star and two-time All-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year is under indictment locally.
The Union County Grand Jury has indicted Shavelle Denise Little, 32, of 1570 Carmel Drive, Marysville, charging her with one count each of aggravated burglary, assault and aggravated menacing.
According to court documents, at about 2:56 p.m. on Nov. 3, deputies were dispatched to a home on Short Street in Milford Center. Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips said Little and the woman who lived at the home were involved in what he called, “a volatile relationship.”
He said Little went to the house and knocked on the door. He said she eventually broke through the door, “allegedly.”
He said Little allegedly went into the home, to a bedroom where the victim was laying down.
The prosecutors said Little, “allegedly grabbed her by the hair, dragging her out of bed and allegedly assaulting her.”
He said the victim repeatedly told Little to leave, but she didn’t. Court documents indicate Little stayed in the home for nearly an hour.
“The victim sustained some injuries,” Phillips said of the incident.
Court documents indicate the injuries were “minor.”
Despite the indictment, officials at the Union County Sheriff’s Office have the matter listed as under investigation.
If convicted on all charges, Little could face more than a decade in prison.
Little played in 125 games and was a four-year letter winner at The Ohio State University from 2007-10. She was part of four consecutive Big Ten Championship teams and helped OSU win a pair of Big Ten Tournament titles. A three-time member of the All-Big Ten Defensive Team, Little is the only Buckeye to be named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year twice. Little finished her career with 262 steals, fourth-most by any Buckeye. She averaged a little more than three points and two steals per game at OSU.
Little was suspended for the first three games of her senior year for what a university statement termed “an NCAA secondary rules violation.”
In 2009, Little graduated from OSU with a degree in criminology.
In 2013, Little began working as a corrections officer at the Ohio Reformatory for Women.
Little was terminated in 2018 after she was involved in an altercation with another ORW staff member. An arbitrator concluded that Little had discipline problems in the past and “has had problems in interacting with others.”
“The incident was inappropriate and unprofessional and has been an issue before,” the arbitrator wrote.
According to an Ohio Civil Service Employee Association document, Little had been suspended on multiple occasions. Additionally, Little did not deny she had an anger issue.
Ultimately, the arbitrator gave Little her job back, but suspended her for 30 days without pay and ordered her to attend anger management classes.
Little was terminated again after the most recent incident.