SANTA BARBARA (California), Nov 22: Tennis star Jimmy Connors was arrested outside the campus arena where UC Santa Barbara and North Carolina were playing a men’s basketball game.

Campus police say in a statement the eight-time Grand Slam champion was taken into custody Friday night after refusing to comply with an order to leave an area near the entrance of the Thunderdome following a confrontation.

A police dispatcher says Connors was arrested at the beginning of the game. No other details of the arrest were made available.

Connors was ranked No 1 for five consecutive years in the 1970s, and had a fiery temperament on the court.

Earlier this year, he resigned as Andy Roddick’s coach after working together for nearly two years.—AP