LAWRENCE — Arterio Morris appeared remotely in court Wednesday as the former Kansas basketball player’s case took its next step.

Morris, who last appeared in Douglas County District Court in mid-November, had a preliminary hearing set for March 1. He continues to be represented by counsel Hatem Chahine, who was in person at court Wednesday. Morris is facing one count of rape.

Morris was arrested in Sept. 2023 and charged with that crime, which court records state allegedly occurred in August earlier that year. He was released on a $75,000 surety bond. The complaint document outlines it as a “severity level 1 person felony” that comes with a penalty range “from a minimum of 147 months to a maximum of 653 months in prison and/or a fine of up to $300,000 and 36 months of post-release supervision, pursuant to K.S.A. 21-6804, 21-6807, 21-6611(a)(2), & 22-3717(d)(1)(A), and amendments thereto.”

Morris’ arrest led to his dismissal from the program. He departed having never played in a regular season game for Kansas. He had transferred in from the University of Texas earlier that year, where he started his college career.

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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Preliminary hearing date has been set in Arterio Morris’ court case